Triton XVI, Lot: 293. Estimate $5000. Sold for $5500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Philip III Arrhidaios. 323-317 BC. AV Stater (17mm, 8.61 g, 10h). In the name of Alexander III. Side(?) mint. Struck under Philotas or Philoxenos. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with griffin, and necklace / BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, Nike standing left, holding wreath in extended right hand and cradling stylis in left arm; ΔI below left wing. Cf. Price 2948 (tetradrachm at Side(?) mint); CNG 66, lot 249 (same dies). Superb EF, underlying luster. Well centered, bold strike from fresh dies.

In the CNG 66 sale, this type was given to Babylon, due to a striking similarity of the obverse die to the illustration of P203 in Price. However, this may be the result of a die transfer or a transfer of the celator from one mint to the other. The illustration of Price 2957 from Side(?) also has a remarkably similar obverse style. In any event, the attribution to Side(?) is more likely, due to the presence of the ΔI control mark, which is not known at Babylon, nor is it likely at to have been used contemporaneously with P203, when that mint employed multiple control marks on each issue. At the same time, the Side(?) tetradrachm issue Price 2948 was relatively large in size, and it would not be surprising to find that the issue included staters along with the tetradrachms.