KINGS OF MACEDON. Philip II, 359-336 BC. Stater (Gold, 19 mm, 8.56 g, 12 h), uncertain Ionian mint (Ephesos?), struck under Menander or Kleitos, circa 323-319. Laureate head of Apollo to right.
Rev. ΦΙΛΙΠΠOY Charioteer driving biga to right, holding goad in his right hand and reins in his left; below the horses, cornucopiae and monogram. Le Rider -. Thompson, Philip, p. 58, -, cf. 6 (no monogram). SNG ANS -, cf. 316 (no monogram). Very rare and of great numismatic interest. Minor marks and the reverse struck a little bit off center from a slightly worn die
, otherwise, about extremely fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
The comparisons demonstrate that the reverse die of this remarkable coin was not merely re-engraved on multiple occasions, but in fact circulated between different mints. The earliest state of the die (Triton XV [2012], 1118) bears a tripod as its control symbol, a mark that can be securely attributed to the mint of Kolophon. In a second state, the tripod was removed and replaced by a thyrsos (cf. Roma XV [2018], 109), a control symbol characteristic of the mint of Magnesia on the Maeander.
On the present specimen, the die was reworked yet again: the thyrsos was replaced by a cornucopia, with an additional monogram beneath. This control symbol probably refers a third nearby Ionian mint, possibly Ephesos.
Given the close geographical proximity of Kolophon and Magnesia—only a few kilometers apart—it is entirely plausible that the same engraver was active around 323/320 BC for multiple mints, reusing the same reverse die in the context of limited production runs, and potentially even for a third mint. Crucially, the die was therefore not re-engraved within a single minting authority, but instead physically moved from mint to mint.
This represents an extraordinary discovery: three distinct control symbols and an additional monogram recorded on a single reverse die. The coin thus offers rare insight into the mobility of engravers, the circulation of dies, and the interconnected administrative structures of neighboring Ionian mints in the early Hellenistic period.
