Watch List notes:

Alexander the Great Contorniate. Contorniate, 28.39g (7h). . , Later 4th cent., perhaps c. 370 AD. Obv: ALEXANDER MA - [GNVS MACEDON] Bust of Alexander right wearing lionskin; palm branch engraved in rihgt field. Rx: A man wearing tunic and cloak leading a saddled and bridled horse right; the man looks back at the horse. From Alföldi's obverse die Alexander V (pl. 5.2), reverse die 197 (e.g. pl. 69.11-12), a new die combination; also not in the addenda in Alföldi's second volume, nor in the addenda in P.F. Mittag's contorniate monograph, Alte Köpfe in neuen Händen (Bonn, 1999). This is a beautiful contorniate with a glossy black patination. In ancient times, a piece was broken out of the edge of the coin, not affecting its beauty or any of its design. EF



This obverse die is scarce, being recorded by Alföldi in only eleven specimens, coupled with four other reverse dies. The same reverse die had previously been known combined with the two obverse dies Homer and Nero XII. The new die combination fits easily into the established die sequence; the obverses Alexander V and Nero XII, for example, were already known to share two other reverse dies, and reverse 170 now becomes a third reverse die that they share