Rare Lifetime Stater Issued at Memphis

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 1117. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AV Stater (8.39 g, 5h). Memphis mint. Struck circa 332-323 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right / Nike standing left, holding wreath and stylis with lotus tip (only barely visible); no control markings. Price 3961; SNG München -; SNG Alpha Bank -; SNG Saroglos 172. VF, weakly struck at periphery on reverse. Rare.

Price attributes unmarked staters to a variety of mints, mostly based on stylistic elements. The two salient elements of style on this piece are the hairstyle of Athena and the stylis of Nike. This hairstyle is most common on early issues attributed to Macedon, but also occurs on limited issues in Asia Minor and elsewhere. In contrast, the rendering of the stylis with a lotus-tip is exceptional, and is only found on the early issues attributed to Memphis. Although none of the plated examples of this issue in Price show this hairstyle on Athena, the illustration of Price 3975, a later issue from Memphis, confirms that this hairstyle was used at the mint.