414, Lot: 56. Estimate $100. Sold for $80. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Drachm (16mm, 4.26 g, 12h). Sardes mint. Struck under Menander, circa 324/3 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; torch in left field (engraved over uncertain mark), monogram below throne. Price 2566; ADM I Series X. VF, toned, minor double strike.

The identification of the mark that had originally been in the left field is perplexing. What is visible suggests a mark similar to the letter A, with the lower legs still visible, and perhaps part of the upper left side. However, no mark similar to this was used at Sardes until Series XV, which was much later, under Philip III. The published examples from that series, moreover, exhibit a significantly different style, so it is unlikely that there is a connection with the present piece. More likely is that the original mark was an error by the celator.