Vindication of Price

Sale: CNG 79, Lot: 155. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 17 September 2008.  Sold For $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Diobol (1.37 g, 1h). ‘Amphipolis’ mint. Lifetime issue, struck under Antipater, circa 332-326 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Two eagles standing confronted; wreath between. Price 16; Troxell, Studies, Group B3. Good VF, granular surfaces. Extremely rare and exceptional.

In Troxell’s study of the Macedonian mint, she concluded that Price’s description of this type, as bearing a wreath, was mistaken. All of the examples known to her had a leaf, rather than wreath, including the coin Price used in his plates. This coin, however, vindicates Price, as it clearly has a wreath. Accordingly, this type belongs to Troxell’s group B3, which has the wreath symbol.