LOWER DANUBE OR ILLYRIA. Uncertain tribe. Circa 180-150 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 32 mm, 17.51 g, 12 h), imitating an issue of Philip V of Macedon from Pella. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. [A]ΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; in field to left, club; below throne, B. Cf. Price 636 (for prototype). Roma XIV (2017), 120 corr. (same obverse die, but misdescribed as an official tetradrachm of Philip V). Very rare and beautifully toned. Perfectly centered on a broad and medallic flan, a wonderful coin. Very light doubling on the reverse, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.



This magnificent tetradrachm is clearly not an official issue, but a contemporary imitation of Price 636, the final Macedonian tetradrachm issue struck in the name of Alexander (cf. also H. Seyrig: Monnaies hellénistiques 3. Philippe V ou les Bottiéens, in: RN 6th ser. 5 (1963), pp. 14-16). Whether this remarkable piece is Celtic in origin or should instead be associated with the Illyrian world remains uncertain.