Artistic Dies

275, Lot: 19. Estimate $200. Sold for $360. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Philip III Arrhidaios. 323-317 BC. AR Drachm (16mm, 4.27 g, 12h). In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Sardes mint. Struck under Menander, circa 323/2 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, monogram above torch. Price 2578. Good VF, toned. Attractive style.

Ex Classical Numismatic Auctions XI (3 May 1990), lot 45.

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 apart, the left directly facing the viewer. Such a deptiction is unparalleled in the coinage struck in the name of Alexander the Great.