ELIS. Olympia. 111th Olympiad, 336 BC. Stater (Silver, 25 mm, 12.00 g, 9 h), Hera mint. F-A Head of Hera to right, wearing ornamented stephanos inscribed F[AΛ]EIΩN, triple-pendant earring and pearl necklace. Rev. Eagle standing left, wings spread and head to right, on oval rock; all within olive wreath. BCD Olympia 159 (same obverse die). BMFA 1219 = Warren 932 (same dies). Seltman 344 (FG/ιψ). Beautifully toned and struck on good metal. Light doubling on the reverse and with a thin flan crack, otherwise, very fine.



Seltman dated this lovely stater to the 111th Olympiad of 336 BC, the year of Philip II’s assassination and Alexander’s accession, thereby linking it both to the Macedonian king and to the celebrated Athenian pankratiast Dioxippos, who won Olympic renown that year without facing a challenger. Later admired by Alexander and taken on campaign against Persia, Dioxippos met a tragic end after humiliating the veteran Macedonian Korragos in India, when a plot against him led to a false accusation of theft and to his suicide.