Sale: CNG 81, Lot: 243. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009.  Sold For $886. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of THRACE. Lysimachos. 305-281 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.20 g, 3h). Amphipolis mint. Struck circa 288-281 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon / Athena Nikephoros seated left, left arm resting on shield, spear behind; monograms to inner left and to outer right. Thompson 204. Near EF.

Struck from the same obverse die as lot 241 above.

In 288 BC, Lysimachos and Pyrrhos of Epiros launched a successful joint invasion Macedon, which was then held by Demetrios I Poliorketes, and split the country between themselves. Lysimachos controlled the eastern half, containing the strategically important mint of Amphipolis, which soon became his principal mint for tetradrachms. The output of the mint was huge, with many new issues still being discovered today. It remained under his control until his death in 281 BC.