Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 158 5 Nov 2025
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Demetrius I Poliorcetes circa 306 – 283
Imitation stater in types of Alexander III, "Tarsus" circa 306-283 , AV 21 mm, 8.61 g. Head of Athena r., wearing Corinthian helmet decorated with snake. Rev. B – [AΣIΛΕΩ]Σ / ΔHMHTPIOY Nike standing l., holding wreath in r. hand and stylis in l.; below l. wing, monogram and in r. field, X. Newell 37 note, pl. xviii, 15 (these dies). Zhuyuetang 103 (this coin).
Extremely rare. Lovely reddish tone, several edge marks, possibly traces of mounting, otherwise very fine
Ex CNG sale 58, 2001, 288.
In his important study of the coinage of Demetrius Poliorcetes, Edward T. Newell described staters struck in this peculiar style and naming Demetrius as "a curious category of staters apparently belonging to (or copied after)" staters of the usual fine style struck at Tarsus. He considered the staters of Tarsus to have been probably struck in the period c. 298-295 BC.
Although he had been defeated and his father, Antigonus Monophthalmos, had been killed by the coalition of Cassander, Lysimachus, and Seleucus I at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, Demetrius managed to retain control of the important city of Tarsus and the surrounding satrapy of Cilicia thanks to a marriage alliance made with Seleucus I in 298 BC. Seleucus feared the growing power of Lysimachus and wished to retain Demetrius as a potential ally against him in Asia Minor.
If Newell was right about the chronology, the regular staters of this type struck at Tarsus were produced in a period when Demetrius was actively engaged in war on land and sea to reconquer cities in the Peloponnesus and Central Greece-especially Athens-which had thrown off Antigonid influence in the aftermath of Ipsus. The death of his father had thrown the territories of the Antigonid empire into chaos, but Demetrius was very much determined to win them back. Silver tetradrachms and gold staters struck at Tarsus and other Anatolian mints still under Demetrius' control would have been crucial for maintaining the fleet and paying the mercenaries fighting for him in Greece.
Tarsian issues engraved in the same slightly crude style as the present piece may be the work of an inexperienced engraver at the mint, or, perhaps more likely, they represent the output of a workshop producing contemporary imitations. If they are indeed imitations, it is impossible to know precisely where they were produced, although Thrace might be a strong possibility. Hoards show that Thracian mercenaries had a great appreciation for staters with the Athena and Nike types of Alexander the Great, and that sometimes imitations were produced to meet (or take advantage of) this preference. The fact that the engraver went to the trouble of copying a specific issue of Demetrius, including his name, rather than the much more common name of the dead Alexander the Great, may suggest that it had some special appeal for the issuers or recipients of the staters.
Imitation stater in types of Alexander III, "Tarsus" circa 306-283 , AV 21 mm, 8.61 g. Head of Athena r., wearing Corinthian helmet decorated with snake. Rev. B – [AΣIΛΕΩ]Σ / ΔHMHTPIOY Nike standing l., holding wreath in r. hand and stylis in l.; below l. wing, monogram and in r. field, X. Newell 37 note, pl. xviii, 15 (these dies). Zhuyuetang 103 (this coin).
Extremely rare. Lovely reddish tone, several edge marks, possibly traces of mounting, otherwise very fine
Ex CNG sale 58, 2001, 288.
In his important study of the coinage of Demetrius Poliorcetes, Edward T. Newell described staters struck in this peculiar style and naming Demetrius as "a curious category of staters apparently belonging to (or copied after)" staters of the usual fine style struck at Tarsus. He considered the staters of Tarsus to have been probably struck in the period c. 298-295 BC.
Although he had been defeated and his father, Antigonus Monophthalmos, had been killed by the coalition of Cassander, Lysimachus, and Seleucus I at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, Demetrius managed to retain control of the important city of Tarsus and the surrounding satrapy of Cilicia thanks to a marriage alliance made with Seleucus I in 298 BC. Seleucus feared the growing power of Lysimachus and wished to retain Demetrius as a potential ally against him in Asia Minor.
If Newell was right about the chronology, the regular staters of this type struck at Tarsus were produced in a period when Demetrius was actively engaged in war on land and sea to reconquer cities in the Peloponnesus and Central Greece-especially Athens-which had thrown off Antigonid influence in the aftermath of Ipsus. The death of his father had thrown the territories of the Antigonid empire into chaos, but Demetrius was very much determined to win them back. Silver tetradrachms and gold staters struck at Tarsus and other Anatolian mints still under Demetrius' control would have been crucial for maintaining the fleet and paying the mercenaries fighting for him in Greece.
Tarsian issues engraved in the same slightly crude style as the present piece may be the work of an inexperienced engraver at the mint, or, perhaps more likely, they represent the output of a workshop producing contemporary imitations. If they are indeed imitations, it is impossible to know precisely where they were produced, although Thrace might be a strong possibility. Hoards show that Thracian mercenaries had a great appreciation for staters with the Athena and Nike types of Alexander the Great, and that sometimes imitations were produced to meet (or take advantage of) this preference. The fact that the engraver went to the trouble of copying a specific issue of Demetrius, including his name, rather than the much more common name of the dead Alexander the Great, may suggest that it had some special appeal for the issuers or recipients of the staters.