Watch List notes:

Greek coins

Pisidia, Sagalassos. Didrachm circa 30 BC, AR 8.18 g. Laureate head of Zeus r. Rev. ΣAΓAΛAΣ – ΣEΩN Victory standing l., holding wreath. SNG France 1717 (this obverse die). SNG von Aulock 5153 (these dies).
Very rare. Old cabinet tone and about extremely fineδδδδδδEx NGSA sale 6, 2010, 105.
Sagalassos was a strongly fortified city of Pisidia located in the middle of a fertile plain. It was famous in antiquity for the bravery of its inhabitants, who opposed no less a warrior than Alexander the Great as he marched against the Persian Empire in 333 BC. Unfortunately, despite their bravery in the face of the Macedonian conqueror, the Sagalassians were defeated and Alexander stormed the city. Later, in 189 BC, the Roman consul Cn. Manlius Vulso attempted to repeat the victory of Alexander at Sagalassos during his campaign against the Galatians of Asia Minor. In this he failed, but by devastating the surrounding territory of the city, he was able to force the inhabitants to come to terms, paying 50 talents of silver and providing large quantities of wheat and barley to feed his army. In 40 BC, Mark Antony granted Sagalassos and the rest of Pisidia to Amyntas, the Roman client-king of Galatia, as a reward for the withdrawal of his military support from Caesar's assassins at the Battle of Philippi. Antony expanded Amyntas' kingdom still further in 36 BC in gratitude for his role in hunting down Sextus Pompey. Nevertheless, when the final showdown came between Antony and Octavian at Actium in 31 BC, Amyntas wisely abandoned his former patron and sided with Octavian. This rare didrachm was struck at Sagalassos while Pisidia was part of Amyntas' kingdom. The Nike reverse has led to the suggestion that it might have been produced in the immediate aftermath of Octavian's victory at Actium as a means of sharing in the triumph of the man who was on the cusp of becoming the first Roman Emperor. A little flattery never hurts. However, it should be noted that the Nike type is also very similar to that employed for the silver coinage of Side, which circulated in Pisidia and was imitated by Amyntas.