Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 2-4 5 January 2015
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Ancients
MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). AR tetradrachm (27mm, 16.90 gm, 11h). Lifetime issue of Memphis, ca. 332-323 BC. Head of Heracles right, wearing lion-skin headdress / AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left, holding eagle and scepter; rose in left field; Δ-IO under throne. Price 3971. Well-centered and struck in high relief from dies of fine style. NGC AU 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style.From The California Collection. Like a meteor, Alexander the Great blazed a brilliant trail across the Ancient World during his 13-year reign and left three major civilizations-- Greek, Persian and Indian-- profoundly transformed in his wake. The conquests of Alexander caused a worldwide economic revolution. In addition to opening up new trade routes to the Orient, they freed up tons of hoarded Persian gold and silver for mintage into coins. Soldiers that left Macedon as peasants returned home or settled in new lands as millionaires. The foundation of so many new cities and the spread of the Greek language and ideas brought a burst of prosperity and creativity that reverberated for centuries. Among his early conquests, Alexander recognized the vast potential of Egypt and initiated construction of a new capital, Alexandria, that would quickly become the greatest city of the Hellenistic world. A mint was also set up at the former Egyptian capital of Memphis to produce coins to pay his army. The new mint employed at least one die engraver of exceptional talent, and silver tetradrachms from the mint of Memphis are now recognized as some of the most beautiful coins produced anywhere in the vast Macedonian Empire.
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD
MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). AR tetradrachm (27mm, 16.90 gm, 11h). Lifetime issue of Memphis, ca. 332-323 BC. Head of Heracles right, wearing lion-skin headdress / AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus seated left, holding eagle and scepter; rose in left field; Δ-IO under throne. Price 3971. Well-centered and struck in high relief from dies of fine style. NGC AU 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style.From The California Collection. Like a meteor, Alexander the Great blazed a brilliant trail across the Ancient World during his 13-year reign and left three major civilizations-- Greek, Persian and Indian-- profoundly transformed in his wake. The conquests of Alexander caused a worldwide economic revolution. In addition to opening up new trade routes to the Orient, they freed up tons of hoarded Persian gold and silver for mintage into coins. Soldiers that left Macedon as peasants returned home or settled in new lands as millionaires. The foundation of so many new cities and the spread of the Greek language and ideas brought a burst of prosperity and creativity that reverberated for centuries. Among his early conquests, Alexander recognized the vast potential of Egypt and initiated construction of a new capital, Alexandria, that would quickly become the greatest city of the Hellenistic world. A mint was also set up at the former Egyptian capital of Memphis to produce coins to pay his army. The new mint employed at least one die engraver of exceptional talent, and silver tetradrachms from the mint of Memphis are now recognized as some of the most beautiful coins produced anywhere in the vast Macedonian Empire.
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD