Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXII 7-8 Oct 2021
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Persia, Alexandrine Empire AV Double Daric. Babylon, Susa or Ekbatana, circa 325-295 BC. Persian Great King or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, in kneeling-running stance to right, holding spear in right hand and bow in left; behind, horse's head to right over IAP monogram / Shallow incuse punch enclosing two opposed crescents and drop-like patterns. Unpublished in the standard references. For the general type cf. Nicolet-Pierre, Deuxiéme groupe, 6-13; Price, Alexander, pl. 159, A; Carradice, p. 95, 53-4; Mitchiner Type 15f-i = BMC Alexandrine Empire pp. 177-9, 1-13; H. Howorth NC 1904, pl. 3, 8-13; Babelon, Perses, pl. 2, 27; Traité II 762 (all with different monograms and symbols). 16.55g, 18mm.
Extremely Fine. Unique and unpublished; a significant new addition to the Double Daric series.
From the Oxus Collection (Denmark).
With the arrival of Alexander in Mespotamia and Persia there appeared a fascinating array of new local coin types, including a series of double darics. The above example bears a monogram that may be broken down as IAP, probably the abbreviation of the name of a mint official, which is also present on the coinage in the name of Alexander at Susa (Price 3835, 3837-8) dated to 325-320 BC and Ekbatana (Price 3886) dated to 311-295 BC. The horse head symbol, albeit with horns, is also present at both mints with similar dates (cf. Price 3863-4, 3867-70 and 3914-6). This form of monogram is not found at any other mint of the late 3rd or early 2nd centuries BC in the 'Persian' area.
On the 30 September or 1 October 331 BC, Darius III, the last Achaemenid king of the Persian Empire, finding himself outmanoeuvred by the Macedonian forces of Alexander III at the Battle of Gaugamela fled to Ekbatana in Media where he had amassed a treasure amounting to 180,000 talents (1,080 million drachmai) from the treasuries of Susa, Persepolis and Pasargadai. Alexander, rather than pursue him through the mountains proceeded down the Tigris and peacefully entered Babylon where 1000 talents had been left in its treasury (Diodorus 17.64.5-6, although Arrian 3.16.6-11 states this happened at Susa). As a reward for his recognition of Alexander as the legitimate successor to Darius, Mazaeus, the former satrap of Cilicia, was rewarded with the satrapy of Babylonia and stamped his name upon the first silver satrap/lion series of the silver staters (cf. Nicolet-Pierre M1-7). The second group (Nicolet-Pierre 1-19) are dated to after the death of Mazaeus in 328 and do indeed share similar symbols and monograms with the imperial issues in the names of Alexander and Philip (cf. Price 3578-93) and double darics traditionally attributed to the mint of Babylon. However, the mint may actually have been at Susa, a new capital and treasury of the Achaemenid Empire since the time of Cyrus. For an assessment of the attribution of the mint of Babylon or Susa see Price, Alexander pp. 453-7, a reasonable explanation for the mint name 'Babylon' in quotation marks.
After a month's repose in Nebuchadnezzar's palace in Babylon, Alexander entered Susa unopposed, forced the Susian Gates, reached and sacked Persepolis, and finally took Ekbatana in June 330 BC, completing his occupation of the Persian homeland and acquiring its massive wealth. Much of this bullion was converted into coinage to pay the Macedonian troops. It was at Susa that in 324 Alexander oversaw the mass wedding between Persians and Macedonians.
By the time of Alexander's death in 323 the region was once again a great centre of culture, trade and commerce under the newly appointed satrap Seleukos, the later Seleukos I Nikator. He ruled until 316 when he was temporarily replaced by Antigonos Monophthalmos until 312/11 when Seleukos returned, appointed himself king in 305 and expanded his small satrapy into a multi-ethnical empire from Baktra in the east to Asia Minor in the west. It is in this historical context that the above remarkable issue should be understood.
Extremely Fine. Unique and unpublished; a significant new addition to the Double Daric series.
From the Oxus Collection (Denmark).
With the arrival of Alexander in Mespotamia and Persia there appeared a fascinating array of new local coin types, including a series of double darics. The above example bears a monogram that may be broken down as IAP, probably the abbreviation of the name of a mint official, which is also present on the coinage in the name of Alexander at Susa (Price 3835, 3837-8) dated to 325-320 BC and Ekbatana (Price 3886) dated to 311-295 BC. The horse head symbol, albeit with horns, is also present at both mints with similar dates (cf. Price 3863-4, 3867-70 and 3914-6). This form of monogram is not found at any other mint of the late 3rd or early 2nd centuries BC in the 'Persian' area.
On the 30 September or 1 October 331 BC, Darius III, the last Achaemenid king of the Persian Empire, finding himself outmanoeuvred by the Macedonian forces of Alexander III at the Battle of Gaugamela fled to Ekbatana in Media where he had amassed a treasure amounting to 180,000 talents (1,080 million drachmai) from the treasuries of Susa, Persepolis and Pasargadai. Alexander, rather than pursue him through the mountains proceeded down the Tigris and peacefully entered Babylon where 1000 talents had been left in its treasury (Diodorus 17.64.5-6, although Arrian 3.16.6-11 states this happened at Susa). As a reward for his recognition of Alexander as the legitimate successor to Darius, Mazaeus, the former satrap of Cilicia, was rewarded with the satrapy of Babylonia and stamped his name upon the first silver satrap/lion series of the silver staters (cf. Nicolet-Pierre M1-7). The second group (Nicolet-Pierre 1-19) are dated to after the death of Mazaeus in 328 and do indeed share similar symbols and monograms with the imperial issues in the names of Alexander and Philip (cf. Price 3578-93) and double darics traditionally attributed to the mint of Babylon. However, the mint may actually have been at Susa, a new capital and treasury of the Achaemenid Empire since the time of Cyrus. For an assessment of the attribution of the mint of Babylon or Susa see Price, Alexander pp. 453-7, a reasonable explanation for the mint name 'Babylon' in quotation marks.
After a month's repose in Nebuchadnezzar's palace in Babylon, Alexander entered Susa unopposed, forced the Susian Gates, reached and sacked Persepolis, and finally took Ekbatana in June 330 BC, completing his occupation of the Persian homeland and acquiring its massive wealth. Much of this bullion was converted into coinage to pay the Macedonian troops. It was at Susa that in 324 Alexander oversaw the mass wedding between Persians and Macedonians.
By the time of Alexander's death in 323 the region was once again a great centre of culture, trade and commerce under the newly appointed satrap Seleukos, the later Seleukos I Nikator. He ruled until 316 when he was temporarily replaced by Antigonos Monophthalmos until 312/11 when Seleukos returned, appointed himself king in 305 and expanded his small satrapy into a multi-ethnical empire from Baktra in the east to Asia Minor in the west. It is in this historical context that the above remarkable issue should be understood.