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Alexander III, son of Philip II, king of Macedonia and Olympias, was
born in Pella in 356 B.C. One of the greatest conquerors in history,
he dominated much of what was then the civilized world, driven by an
endless ambition. After Philip’s death, in 336 B.C., the Macedonian
state had reached hegemony over Greece, but yet the great enemy
of the Greeks, Persia, remained strong and dangerous in the East.
With the
death of the Persian king Artaxerxes III in 338 B.C., and the succession
of a much weaker Darius II in 336 B.C., the opportunity was ready
for the young king to begin his incredible triumphal march of conquest.
In
the following thirteen years, through memorable campaigns, he fought,
pacified and then unified a wide area stretching across Asia Minor,
Phoenicia, Syria, Egypt, Babylonia, Suse, Persepolis, and even part
of modern India.
It is commonly thought, as originally written by Plutarch, that unification
was achieved partly through the means of coinage, which explains
the spread of the Macedonian coinage in the fourth century BC. In a recent
book, Le Rider (see Alexandre le Grand. Monnaies, finances et politique,
Paris 2003) contests the usual denomination of “Imperial coinage” and
the supposition that Alexander would have wished to impose a single coinage
throughout his empire. He reminds us that the famous Alexander’s
tetradrachms and staters are emphatically not the only coinage used during
Alexander’s short reign and life. This coinage, once created, was
not imposed on the West of Asia Minor: for example, Egypt seems not to
have struck coins between 332 BC until shortly before Alexander’s
death; Babylonia struck tetradrachms in the name of Mazaios; and Alexander
does not seem to have created any mint east of the Tiger. Most places
in the empire did not strike the coinage of Alexander, or did so only
many years later: only Macedonia and Cilicia-Phenicia-Syria issued it
after Alexander’s victories in Issos (autumn 333 BC), and Tyre
(July 332 BC). Le Rider believes that as an astute politician, Alexander
seems to have been content to continue with the coinage of his predecessors.
The gold staters and silver tetradrachms of his father Philip II during
his early reign, and the Persian darics and siglos after the death of
Darius III in 330 B.C., continued to be trustworthy. This question of
trust is one which may explain why some of his own successors, his half-brother
Philip III and his son Alexander IV for example, would have supported
the wider distribution and usage of Alexander’s coinage, which
would have spread only after the death of its creator, surviving during
several centuries!
Notes on the coinage:
One of the remarkable aspects of Alexander’s coinage is the impressive
scale of emissions during his life and after his death on his name. His
father, Philip II, had already struck an unprecedented number of gold
staters, thanks to the conquest of the mining areas in the northern Greece.
The types of Alexander’s coinage are uniform: on the gold the head
of Athena on obverse and on reverse a standing Nike carrying a naval
standard; on the silver the head of a young Herakles, for many a reference
to the young king, and Zeus enthroned on reverse. Every coin bears Alexander’s
name. The choice of Athena, the great supporter of the Greeks in the
Trojan war, is linked to the new clash West versus East, where the goddess
would serve once again as a protector against the Persian Empire. The
Nike (the Greek word for “victory”) was the clear symbol
of Alexander’s power both on land and sea. Zeus enthroned was another
distinct symbol of supreme power, and its resemblance with the type
on Cilician coins (with the seated god Baal) was meant to be understood
also in Anatolia and Persia.
Alexander’s the Great has captured the public imagination throughout
history and is now in particular vogue with the release of the latest
Hollywood Blockbuster. To mark this renewed interest Spink is offering
a large selection of Philip II, Alexander’s and his successors
coins, ranging from a number of affordable attractive drachms to tetradrachms
of various mints and gold staters - a selection of examples is provided
below.
NB Please note that images are not actual size.
Please click
here to see more of the Coinage of Alexander currently in stock
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