Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 2-4 5 January 2015
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MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Demetrius I Poliorcetes (306-283 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 17.20 gm, 11h). Chalkis, ca. 290-287 BC. Diademed of Demetrius right, with bull's horn / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔEMETRIOY, Poseidon standing left, holding trident, foot on rock; K to outer left; grape bunch to outer right. Newell 150. A superb specimen, boldly struck on a broad, round flan from dies of exceptional style. Satiny fields with mirror-like sheen. NGC Choice AU★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.Demetrius I Poliorcetes ("the Besieger") was the most dynamic of Alexander's immediate successors, but was ultimately undone by his personal failings. He spent the first half of his career supporting the claim of his father, Antigonus Monopthalmus; after the latter's defeat and death at Ipsos in 301 BC, Demetrius carried on and managed to seize the throne of Macedon in 294 BC, holding it against all rival claimants for six years. Hard-drinking, tyrannical and relentlessly ambitious, he was ultimately driven from Macedon by his own subjects and was held prisoner by his former benefactor, Seleucus I, for the rest of his life. His handsome visage is clearly shown on this striking tetradrachm of Chalkis; he adopts a bull's horn as a symbol of divinity, counterpoint to the ram's horn seen on the coins struck by his rival Lysimachus. The reverse image of Poseidon recalls the naval victory at Salamis.
Estimate: 4000-5500 USD
MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Demetrius I Poliorcetes (306-283 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 17.20 gm, 11h). Chalkis, ca. 290-287 BC. Diademed of Demetrius right, with bull's horn / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔEMETRIOY, Poseidon standing left, holding trident, foot on rock; K to outer left; grape bunch to outer right. Newell 150. A superb specimen, boldly struck on a broad, round flan from dies of exceptional style. Satiny fields with mirror-like sheen. NGC Choice AU★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.Demetrius I Poliorcetes ("the Besieger") was the most dynamic of Alexander's immediate successors, but was ultimately undone by his personal failings. He spent the first half of his career supporting the claim of his father, Antigonus Monopthalmus; after the latter's defeat and death at Ipsos in 301 BC, Demetrius carried on and managed to seize the throne of Macedon in 294 BC, holding it against all rival claimants for six years. Hard-drinking, tyrannical and relentlessly ambitious, he was ultimately driven from Macedon by his own subjects and was held prisoner by his former benefactor, Seleucus I, for the rest of his life. His handsome visage is clearly shown on this striking tetradrachm of Chalkis; he adopts a bull's horn as a symbol of divinity, counterpoint to the ram's horn seen on the coins struck by his rival Lysimachus. The reverse image of Poseidon recalls the naval victory at Salamis.
Estimate: 4000-5500 USD