An Artistic Rendering of Zeus

225, Lot: 60. Estimate $150. Sold for $320. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Antigonos I Monophthalmos. As Satrap of Asia, 323-305 BC. AR Drachm (17mm, 4.15 g, 9h). In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Sardes mint. Struck 319-315 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, his left leg and torso facing; monograms to left and below throne. Price 2682. VF, obverse off-center.

The engraver for this issue of drachms was a skillful and adventurous artist, departing from the familiar rendering of the figure of Zeus Aëtophoros. Here, through an an exceptional use of foreshortening, Zeus is shown half-facing the viewer, with his legs spread, the left knee directly facing the viewer. Such a deptiction is unparalleled in the coinage struck in the name of Alexander the Great.