Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 835. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $1600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Philip V. 221-179 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.02 g, 12h). Pella or Amphipolis mint. Second series, circa 211-197 BC. Helmeted and beardless head of the hero Perseus left, harpa over shoulder, in boss of a Macedonian shield decorated with seven eight-pointed stars within double crescents / BASILEWS FILIPPOU, club within oak wreath, M to left. Boehringer, Chron. pl. 8, 7; Mamroth, Philip -; AMNG III p. 197, 1 (Philip VI; same obv. die); SNG München 1125 var. (no M); cf. SNG Alpha Bank 1051. Near EF, a few patches of light encrustation on reverse. ($1500)

From the Robert Weimer Collection.

Distinguished by a beardless Perseus on the obverse and the absence of control marks within the wreath on the reverse, the rare tetradrachms of Philip's second series had originally been attributed by Gaebler (in AMNG) to Philip VI Andriskos. Gaebler's attribution was based primarily on his analysis of a number of coins he examined in Berlin upon which he saw apparent traces of undertypes. He concluded that the undertypes were the LEG MAKEDONWN tetradrachms, which were issued contemporary to the revolt of Andriskos. Gaebler also noted the crude die engraving of this issue compared to the types attributed to Philip V. M. Thompson suggested problems with this theory in her analysis of a hoard from Northern Greece dating to the first half of the second century BC (ANSMN XII (1966), pp. 57-63). The hoard contained a single specimen of this type, but it exhibited much heavier wear than the latest coins in the hoard. Thompson also noted that an examination of these types in the ANS revealed a higher than expected die count for Andriskos' short reign, and that their style varied, with some being of very good quality. A full re-assessment of the coinage was conducted by Boehringer, who examined the coins Gaebler studied, and concluded that the latter's reconstruction of the undertypes was not convincing. Boehringer also noted the wide variance of style, and saw no convincing evidence to suggest these coins were not issued by Philip V (see Boehringer, op. cit., pp. 107-110 and 116-118).