Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 2-4 5 January 2015
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THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (323-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (29mm, 17.15 gm, 10h). Pella, 286/5-282/1 BC. Head of the deified Alexander the Great right, with horn of Ammon / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY, Athena enthroned left, holding Nike and resting left elbow on shield propped against throne, monogram within wreath in inner left field. Cf. Thompson 246 (same obverse die, slightly different monogram). A magnificent specimen, deeply struck in exceptional metal from dies of beautiful style. NGC MS★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.From The California Collection. Alexander the Great's meteoric 13-year career of conquest left the classical world profoundly transformed by the time of his premature death in 323 BC. In the immediate aftermath, Alexander's generals carved up his immense new empire into spheres of influence, although maintaining the fiction of a unified leadership. Territorial disputes soon led to civil wars, with the rival warlords contending for supreme power. Chief among these was Lysimachus, who at various times controlled Thrace, Macedon and much of Asia Minor. For the obverse of his silver his coinage, Lysimachus claimed the mantle of Alexander by choosing the image of the conqueror himself, now shown as a god wearing the ram's horn of the Greco-Egyptian deity Ammon. The image is one of the earliest true Hellenistic portraits to appear on a coin, and one of the finest. The reverse, depicting Athena enthroned, likewise proved extremely influential throughout history, forming the archetype for the figure of Britannia on modern English coins.
Estimate: 10000-14000 USD
THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (323-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (29mm, 17.15 gm, 10h). Pella, 286/5-282/1 BC. Head of the deified Alexander the Great right, with horn of Ammon / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY, Athena enthroned left, holding Nike and resting left elbow on shield propped against throne, monogram within wreath in inner left field. Cf. Thompson 246 (same obverse die, slightly different monogram). A magnificent specimen, deeply struck in exceptional metal from dies of beautiful style. NGC MS★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.From The California Collection. Alexander the Great's meteoric 13-year career of conquest left the classical world profoundly transformed by the time of his premature death in 323 BC. In the immediate aftermath, Alexander's generals carved up his immense new empire into spheres of influence, although maintaining the fiction of a unified leadership. Territorial disputes soon led to civil wars, with the rival warlords contending for supreme power. Chief among these was Lysimachus, who at various times controlled Thrace, Macedon and much of Asia Minor. For the obverse of his silver his coinage, Lysimachus claimed the mantle of Alexander by choosing the image of the conqueror himself, now shown as a god wearing the ram's horn of the Greco-Egyptian deity Ammon. The image is one of the earliest true Hellenistic portraits to appear on a coin, and one of the finest. The reverse, depicting Athena enthroned, likewise proved extremely influential throughout history, forming the archetype for the figure of Britannia on modern English coins.
Estimate: 10000-14000 USD