Leu Numismatik AG
Auction 13 27 May 2023
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KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great', 336-323 BC. Distater (Gold, 21 mm, 17.19 g, 9 h), Amphipolis, struck under Antipater, circa 325-323/2. Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with a coiled serpent. Rev. AΛEΞANΔPOY Nike standing front, head to left, with her wings spread, holding laurel wreath in her right hand and stylis in her left; to left, thunderbolt. Price 163. Troxell, Studies, Group A, 545. Well struck on a broad flan and unusually well preserved for the issue. Good very fine.
Alexander's rare distaters were called χρυσοῖ Ἀλεξάνδρειοι μεγάλοι, meaning 'big staters of Alexander', and had a value of ten Attic tetradrachms or forty Attic drachms. We don't know why they were issued by Antipater, Philip's old companion and Alexander's governor of Macedon, but in an empire dominated by the much more common gold staters and the ubiquitous silver tetradrachms and drachms, the large and impressive gold distaters formed a notable exception. Perhaps they were issued as donatives to deserving officers, some of whom returned home to their families in Macedon after Alexander's return from his Baktrian and Indian campaigns in 325/4.
Alexander's rare distaters were called χρυσοῖ Ἀλεξάνδρειοι μεγάλοι, meaning 'big staters of Alexander', and had a value of ten Attic tetradrachms or forty Attic drachms. We don't know why they were issued by Antipater, Philip's old companion and Alexander's governor of Macedon, but in an empire dominated by the much more common gold staters and the ubiquitous silver tetradrachms and drachms, the large and impressive gold distaters formed a notable exception. Perhaps they were issued as donatives to deserving officers, some of whom returned home to their families in Macedon after Alexander's return from his Baktrian and Indian campaigns in 325/4.