20190

GREEK COINS - SELEUCID - RARE ALEX TYPE AR DRACHM

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:850.00 USD Estimated At:850.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
GREEK COINS - SELEUCID - RARE ALEX TYPE AR DRACHM
AR Drachm (4.10 g). Marathos (?). Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet / <SPAN STYLE=`FONT-SIZE:10.0PT;FONT-FAMILY:SYMBOL;COLOR:#333333`>ALEXANDRO</SPAN>Y, Nike standing left, holding stylis and wreath. Houghton, CSE, 940 (same dies); De Luynes 3164 (same dies). This coinage, known only by a few specimens, defies easy classification. It is tempting to assign it to Alexander the Great or his immediate successors in the Macedonian Kingdom, but the type is found with drachms of Seleukos II bearing both royal and non-royal portraits. Though the coin types of Alexander were still commonly being reproduced in the 220s BC, this coin is of the greatest interest because of its use in silver of a design otherwise restricted to gold coinage in the Greek cities and kingdoms. An unusually full strike for this rare and enigmatic issue.

VF+, high relief head, faint hairlines on rev.