Very Rare Alexandrine Tetradrachm from Kyme

Sale: CNG 82, Lot: 601. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009.  Sold For $675. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AEOLIS, Kyme. Circa 215-200 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.05 g, 4h). With the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, K above oinochoe; monogram below throne. Price 1613 var. (monogram). Good VF. Very rare, no Alexandrine tetradrachms of Kyme in CoinArchives.

Alexander type coinage was so popular, and became so commonly accepted, that the successor kingdoms, as well as cities in the region of Alexander’s empire, continued to produce coinage in Alexander's name long after his death. These posthumous coins, struck over some 200 years, are not issues of Alexander, but rather the royal coinage of other kings or the civic coinage of individual cities. Accordingly, beginning with this catalog, CNG will list the posthumous Alexanders under their respective cities and kings (if a single king is identifiable for a given issue). In sum, only the lifetime issues will be listed under Alexander, except for issues from an uncertain mint, issues given to more than one possible king, or issues where the attribution to a specific king is not certain (as with lot 421, above).