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Macedonian Kingdom. Alexander I. Silver Tetradrachm (12.55 g), 498-454 BC

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:600.00 USD Estimated At:750.00 USD
Macedonian Kingdom. Alexander I. Silver Tetradrachm (12.55 g), 498-454 BC
Aigai, ca. 492-480/79 BC. Horseman, wearing chlamys and petasos, and holding two spears and reins, riding right. Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square. Raymond pl. II, 8; SNG ANS 2-5; HGC 3.1, 762. Toned. Very Fine. Alexander I was the son of King Amyntas I of Macedonia, and is most known to history for secretly helping the Greek city states during Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480-479 BC, although Macedonia was allied with the Achaemenid Persians. Herodotos reported that while the army of the Greek coalition was camped in the Vale of Tempe in Thessaly, Alexander warned them of the danger of their position and induced them to withdraw, saving them from certain disaster at the hands of the massive Persian army. Likewise, before the Battle of Plataea in 479, Alexander again helped the Greeks by revealing the Persian general Mardonius' battle plans.