424, Lot: 99. Estimate $200. Sold for $150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Antigonos I Monophthalmos. As Strategos of Asia, 320-306/5 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26.5mm, 17.11 g, 4h). In the name and types of Alexander III. Babylon mint. Struck under Peithon, circa 315-311 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, monogram in wreath; M below throne. Price 3742. VF, toned, zig-zag pattern in field on reverse.

From the Colin E. Pitchfork Collection, purchased from Dieter Gorny, October 1993.

The zig-zag pattern cut into the field on the reverse of this coin is known on other examples (see Price 3680a, 3723, 3976d, P182b). In each instance, the pattern is placed in the left field, usually above the arm. The meaning of the pattern is uncertain, but the similarity of its composition across these issues suggests that it was placed on the coins in a deliberate attempt to mark them in a recognized manner. As these all occur on issues from eastern mints, the source for the mark probably is in that region.