Uno splendido e raro tetradramma alessandrino coniato a Filippi

[King John]

Ammirate questo splendido e poco comune tetradramma coniato a Filippi negli anni compresi fra il 356 e il 245 a.C., quindi durante la vita di Alessandro il Grande. Un vero capolavoro...

Passerà in asta il prossimo 5 maggio.

Nomos AG > Auction 18	Auction date: 5 May 2019
Lot number: 72
Lot description: MACEDON. Philippoi. Circa 356-345 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 24 mm, 14.42 g, 6 h), Hera.... Youthful, beardless, head of Herakles to right, wearing lion's skin headdress. Rev. ΦΙΛΙΠΠΩΝ Tripod with three tall rings ornamented with fillets; above, laurel branch to right; to left, club upwards; in exergue, ΗΡΑ. Bellinger 21. Weber 1990. Very rare. A superb piece, fresh, sharp and with a head of Herakles of splendid late classical style. Very small die break on the obverse and minor scuff on the reverse, otherwise, good extremely fine. From a collection in Germany, acquired prior to 2007. The city of Philippoi was founded by Thasos in 360/359 BC under the name Krenides (Springs. It was on the Macedonian/Thracian coast to the west of Thasos; a site well calculated to control the gold and silver mines of the area. Shortly thereafter, in 356, the city was conquered by Philip II who renamed it in his own honor. He furnished it with colonists, drained some of the nearby marshes, and gave it full autonomy within the Kingdom of Macedonia. It was only under full royal control beginning with Philip V well over a century later. Perhaps the best known event in the city's history was the battle that took place there in 42 BC when Antony and Octavian destroyed the forces of Brutus and Cassius Longinus. It then became a Roman colony, ultimately Colonia Augusta Iulia Philippensis after 27 BC. St. Paul visited the city several times; the city had a thriving Christian community; in 619 there was a massive earthquake from which the city never recovered.  The city's coinage reached its zenith under Philip II, producing coins using metal from the nearby mines prior to the transfer of all minting activities to Pella and Amphipolis. Stylistically, the links between the early issues of Philippoi and the coins minted in the great Macedonian mints are quite strong: the quality of the best issues from all three mints is outstanding. The present example, with its elegant head of the young Herakles and its sober reverse design, is a perfect example: a perfect late Classical coin at the cusp of the Hellenistic age. Estimate: 22500 CHF

[ciosky68]

appero' mi piacerebbe vedere i rilievi....

Roberto

[King John]

@paparoupa what do you think?

Modificato 4 Aprile, 2019 da King John

[King John]

Ragazzi,  esprimetevi: cosa ne pensate?

[King John]

Si ritrovano gli stessi soggetti sugli stateri d'oro coniati a Filippi nello stesso periodo:

Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XIX, lot 2034, 5/01/2016

MACEDON, Philippoi. Circa 356-345 BC. AV Stater (18mm, 8.58 g, 7h). Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Tripod; ΦIΛIΠΠΩN up left field; to right, head of horse right. Bellinger, Philippi 15; AMNG III/2, 3 var. (horse's head left); SNG ANS 663 var. (animal); SNG Copenhagen 921; Bement 675; Pozzi 811. Near EF, attractive cabinet tone. Very rare.
Ex Classical Numismatic Group 69 (8 June 2005), lot 133; Stevenson Collection (Classical Numismatic Group XXVI, 11 June 1993), lot 56; Leu 28 (5 May 1981), lot 70; R. de Castro Maya Collection (Bourgey, 18 November 1957), lot 47.
Until the fifth century BC, the important gold mines of Skapté-Hylé belonged to Thasos, when they were appropriated by Athens. With the collapse of the Athenian empire in the late fifth century, this district reverted to the control of the local people. Around 360 BC, Thasos, at the urging of Athens and backed by an Athenian fleet, mounted a successful offensive and recaptured the mines of Skapté-Hylé, refounding the Thasian city of Daton and renaming it Krenides. In the spring of 356 BC, the Thracian king Kersobleptes prepared to attack Krenides. Athens, involved in the Social War, could not provide help to the colonists of Krenides, so they appealed to Philip of Macedon, who had recently taken possession of Amphipolis, for help. Philip successfully repelled this attack, and recolonized Krenides under the name Philippi, which he strongly fortified and provided many new colonists. Krenides had produced one series of Attic gold staters, with the head of Herakles on the obverse and a tripod on the reverse. This first issue was very distinctive in that the paws of the lion's skin did not cover Herakles' neck. As Philippi, the town continued the production of the staters in two series, the first without the paws covering the neck, the second, from which this coin is a part, with the lion's paws in the more conventional location, closed around the neck. Minted alongside of this stater were also silver tetradrachms of a weight standard conforming with the standard employed by the Chalkidian League, Akanthos, and Philip's royal coinage. Gold production at Philippi was short lived as this second series was suspended before the end of the 340s.

[King John]

Stessi soggetti anche sulle dracme 

Classical Numismatic Group, Electronic Auction 419, lot 613, 25/04/2018

The Jonathan K. Kern Collection of Electrotypes and Forgeries 
GREEK, Macedon. Philippoi (as Thasian Epeiros [Krenides]). Circa 360/59-356 BC. AR "Drachm" (17mm, 5.29 g, 12h). Dies by Carl Wilhelm Becker, 1772-1830. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Filleted tripod; palm frond above. Hill, Becker 41. Good VF, toned.

[King John]

e sul bronzo..

Roma Numismatics Limited. E-Sale 45, lor 181, 5/05/2018

Greek 
Macedon, Philippoi Æ17. Circa 356-345 BC. Head of Herakles left, wearing lion skin headdress / Tripod; M and grain ear to left, ΦΙΛΙΠΠΩΝ downward to right. Bellinger, Philippi, Group II, 10; cf. SNG ANS 666-669. 6.29g, 17mm, 8h.
Good Very Fine.

[paparoupa]

I don't have access to other specimens from museums, but it is quite different from the Prospero one I attach. I would not swear an oath that it is authentic, something isn't appealing to my eyes. 

Modificato 5 Aprile, 2019 da paparoupa