Sale: Nomos 2, Lot: 59. Estimate CHF4500.  Closing Date: Monday, 17 May 2010.  Sold For CHF6000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. Stater (Gold, 8.62 g 11), uncertain Greek mint, struck circa 310-275 BC. Helmeted head of Athena to right, wearing necklace, aegis and with a snake on the bowl of her helmet. Rev. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ Nike standing to left, holding wreath in her right hand and stylis in her left; to left, ant; below her right wing, eight-pointed star. Müller 179. Price 831. A superb, lustrous piece struck in high relief. Virtually as struck.

Ants very rarely appear on Greek coins; its combination with a star as symbols on this coin imply a connection, perhaps to a local legend or myth.