The Aleuas Issue

CNG 90, Lot: 93. Estimate $2000. Sold for $1600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Larissa. Circa 370-360 BC. AR Drachm (19mm, 6.18 g, 12h). Head of Aleuas facing slightly left, wearing conical helmet; labrys to right / Eagle standing left, head right, on thunderbolt. Lorber, Thessalian 94 (same dies); BCD Thessaly II 185 (same dies). Good VF, toned, slightly granular surfaces, a couple light scratches. Very rare.

From the BCD Collection. Ex Leu 30 (28 April 1982), lot 102.

A number of theories surround this enigmatic issue, unique in Larissan coinage. The most widely accepted interpretations are those propounded by C. Seltman and M. Sordi. For Seltman (Greek Coins, p. 161), Aleuas (founder of the Thessalian ruling house) is depicted to promote the claim of Hellokrates, an Aleuad noble, against Alexander of Pherai in 361 BC. Supporting this contention is the legend on the reverse, EΛΛA, seen as a contracted form of Hellokrates. M. Sordi ("La drachma di Aleuas e l'origine di un tipo monetario di Alessandro Magno," Annali 3 [1956]), however, has dated this type to the reign of Alexander III of Macedon. Upon his accession, Alexander became tagos of Thessaly. Sordi suggests that Alexander issued this coinage to emphasize the joint ancestry of the Thessalian and Macedonian royalty, both of whom descended from Heracles. Sordi notes that, along with Epeirote coins, this eagle type is also found on early issues of Alexander III of Macedon (the ‘eagle’ coinage, cf. Price pl. CXLIII). A secure date and historical context await further research or evidence.