Ancients
MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Philip II (359-336 BC). AV stater (17mm, 8.60 gm, 1h). NGC MS 5/5 - 3/5, brushed. Late lifetime to early posthumous issue of Amphipolis, ca. 340/36-328 BC. Laureate head of Apollo right / ΦIΛIΠΠOY, charioteer driving fast biga right, kentron in right hand, reins in left; barley grain below. Le Rider -. SNG ANS 242. Lockett -. A sparkling mint-state jewel with crisp high-relief obverse and life-like reverse.
From the Collection of A Scottish Gentleman. Ex Harlan J Berk, Buy/Bid Sale 174 (10 May 2011), lot 10; Dr. Patrick Tan Collection (Gemini VII, January 2011), lot 251.
In 356 BC, three years after coming to power, the Macedonian King Philip II secured control of the gold and silver mines in the hinterlands of Amphipolis. This windfall immediately strengthened his hand in dealing with the other Greek city-states. His coinage in gold commenced about 345 BC and was the first truly extensive Greek coinage in that metal. The Persians had been striking gold darics for nearly two centuries, but Philip's new gold coin was weightier and more pleasing to the Greek eye, with a handsome youthful head of Apollo on the obverse and a racing chariot on the reverse, recalling another of his Olympic victories. Philip's gold drew tens of thousands of hearty men from the hinterlands of northern Greece into service in his well-trained army, enabling him to secure control of the nearly the entire mainland and plan the conquest of Persia eventually carried out by his son, Alexander III the Great. Gold staters of his design continued to be struck long after his assassination in 336 BC. As late as the third century AD, gold coins of any type were still casually referred to as "Philips."
HID02901242017
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD