The Tuck Pittman “Legends of Alexander” Collection ––– Royal Issues of Alexander Type

CNG 84, Lot: 224. Estimate $500. Sold for $663. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Drachm (16mm, 4.30 g, 1h). Obverse die signed by M. Magnesia ad Maeandrum mint. Struck circa 325-323 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin; small M at lower edge of inner mane / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, ram’s head left above monogram. Price 1922 var. (M not noted); Hersh & Troxell, “A 1993 Hoard of Alexander Drachms” in AJN 5-6 (1993-4), obverse die 5, pl. 6, 5.3 (same dies); SNG Saroglos 761 (same rev. die). Superb EF. Rare.

From the Tuck Pittman Collection. Ex Triton X (9 January 2007), lot 151.

Lifetime-issue drachms are rare at Magnesia, as confirmed by Hersh & Troxell’s hoard study. Like Price, though, both missed identifying the M on the obverse. Nonetheless, their analysis of the known dies of this period (8 total) reveals two dies, 3 and 5, that have the M (see pl. 6, 3.2-3.8a and 5.3-5.6a). The style of each of the eight dies varies greatly, except for the two M dies, which are very similar. This suggests that the M is actually the signature of the engraver.

The Tuck Pittman “Legends of Alexander” Collection

In CNG Mail Bid Sale 66, we offered a selection of coins of Alexander the Great type from the collection of Tuck Pittman. In this sale, we offer Tuck's "Legends of Alexander the Great" Collection. Since the time of Alexander, people have attempted to associate themselves with the famous Macedonian. This is obvious through coins from the Hellenistic Greek era to the modern day. Alexander's successors start the trend immediately after his death by continuing to issue Alexander's coins, with his name, long after his death. Even when new, innovative, types were introduced in the successor kingdoms, often there were types and symbols that recalled the great conqueror, such as the elephant chariot (recalling Alexander’s exploits in India), and, ultimately, the portrait of the deified Alexander. Even among the Romans, following their incorporation of the Hellenistic kingdoms, do we find references to Alexander, often in concert with Roman campaigns in the east. Thus, this collection concentrates on the enduring Alexander symbolism that persisted after his death. Although the first few Macedonian issues are lifetime issues of Alexander, most of the lots below are the issues of his successors, as each attempted to secure their respective kingdom's rightful place as the inheritor of Alexander's legacy. The connection to Alexander, however, was not solely confined to kingdoms and individuals. Even cities attempted to connect their history and coinage to Alexander, and this is also visible in the coinage, where cities continued to strike coins with the types of Alexander, as late as the 1st century BC. The coins below represent those issues struck using the types of Alexander, with the royal issues presented before the civic; other issues, of non-Alexander type, in the collection are included under their respective sections in this sale.