XXXVII ENIGMA NUMISMATICO DELLA SFINGE

[King John]

Modificato 21 Novembre, 2017 da King John

[claudiodruso]

Filippo V macedone..?

 

[King John]

56 minuti fa, claudiodruso dice:

Filippo V macedone..?

 

no, mi dispiace...

[paparoupa]

Achaeus Seleukid kingdom

[King John]

SELEUCID KINGDOM. Achaeus (220–autumn or winter 214 BC). Silver tetradrachm (16.89 gm). Sardes. Diademed and draped bust of Achaeus right, bearded / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AXAIOY, Athena Alkis, viewed from behind, advancing left, brandishing spear in raised right hand and holding shield with anchor device on left arm, horse head left in inner left field. Unpublished. Cf. SC 953, WSM 1440, and CSE 608 for two varieties known previously. One of five tetradrachms of Achaeus known. Among the great rarities of Hellenistic coinage. Good very fine with a splendid portrait.
Ex Peter Guber Collection; Freeman & Sear Fixed Price List 12, Winter 2007, 70; Gemini Auction I, 11 January 2005, lot 204.
Achaeus was a kinsman of the Seleucid king Seleucus III (225–222 BC). In 222 Seleucus led an army into Asia Minor, hoping to recover former Seleucid territories that had been lost in the reign of his father. The king was assassinated in the course of this campaign and the troops acclaimed Achaeus as his successor. Achaeus, however, refused the diadem and offered his allegiance to Seleucus’ younger brother, Antiochus III. The new king rewarded Achaeus for his loyalty by appointing him governor of Seleucid Asia Minor. Achaeus swiftly recovered much of the lost territory. Then in 220 he inexplicably reversed his earlier decision and declared himself king. His grand ambitions were thwarted when his army refused to march into Syria. The revenge of Antiochus III was delayed by a war against Ptolemaic Egypt, but in 216 he invaded Asia Minor and besieged the usurper in his capital at Sardes. In late 214 Achaeus was captured while attempting to escape. Antiochus ordered him flayed alive, then beheaded and impaled, as a warning to other would-be usurpers.
Achaeus’ tetradrachms are among the greatest rarities of Hellenistic coinage and are particularly admired for the artistic quality of his portrait. He is represented as a seasoned military commander of strong character, with a slightly cruel expression. His reverse type states his claim to the Seleucid succession. The device on Athena’s shield is an anchor, the emblem of the Seleucid dynasty, implying that the goddess and her protégé Achaeus are fighting for the Seleucid cause. The horse head by her feet is another Seleucid symbol dating back to the dynastic founder Seleucus I; it appears on all tetradrachms of Achaeus.
Four other tetradrachms of Achaeus exist, including: (1) a specimen from the former collection of R. Jameson, now in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon (WSM 1440 = Gulbenkian 1029); (2) a fragmentary specimen found in the Sardes excavations; and (3) a specimen formerly in the collection of Arthur Houghton (CSE 608). 
Estimated Value: $ 75,000

Modificato 22 Novembre, 2017 da King John

[King John]

@paparoupa how do you always guess ????? Here is your prize.