KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’, 336-323 BC. Distater (Gold, 22 mm, 17.24 g, 7 h), Amphipolis, struck under Antipater, Polyperchon, or Kassander, circa 321-316. Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with a coiled serpent.
Rev. AΛEΞANΔΡO[Υ] Nike standing front, head to left, with her wings spread, holding laurel wreath in her right hand and stylis in her left; in field to left, kantharos. HGC 3.1, 892a. Müller 192. Price 167. Troxell, Studies, Group C, 541 (DO2/DC1). Very rare and in exceptional condition. A magnificent piece of particularly fine style, perfectly centered and boldly struck in high relief. Small metal flaw and a minor scratch on the reverse
, otherwise, extremely fine.
From a Swiss collection, formed in the 1960s and notarized by P. A. Berney on 16 March 2005 (No. 20409).
Alexander's distaters were called χρυσοῖ Ἀλεξάνδρειοι μεγάλοι, meaning 'large staters of Alexander.' Weighing just over 17 grams, they matched the weight of the king's Attic tetradrachms - but in gold. Given the prevailing gold-to-silver ratio of 1:10, this meant they were valued at ten Attic tetradrachms or forty Attic drachms.
In 1997, Troxell classified Alexander's Macedonian distaters into three groups, with Group A from Amphipolis being by far the most common. She identified twenty-two obverse dies, with several more discovered since. Our piece belongs to the very rare Group C, of which Troxell recorded only three obverse dies. One distinguishing feature of this group is that only two, rather than three, ends of the helmet crests are depicted.
