Alexander Tetradrachms, And Stylistic Exceptions

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,334
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 03/31/2012 6:33 pm Recently, I posted a comparison of various Alexander the Great tetradrachms, noting stylistic similarities. Well, I should have looked harder, because there are always exceptions. It seems that later tetradrachms minted in Odessos, in the style of Alexander, looked quite different than Alexander III "lifetime" tetradrachms, struck in Macedon (the first coin). Here's another interesting page, showing the abstraction of Dionysius tetradrachms minted in Thrace. Edited by DVCollector 03/31/2012 6:39 pm Report this Post to the Staff

dougsmit Pillar of the Community United States 1549 Posts	Posted 03/31/2012 7:18 pm So many mints, so many years --- is it any wonder that there are such wide variations? I might suggest looking for late examples that are exceptionally good in terms of style and workmanship. Report this Post to the Staff
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 03/31/2012 8:05 pm Yes...that makes total sense. There are a lot of these tetradrachms to look at, and those good in style often just say "Alexander the Great". Someday, I'll get one of these, but in the meantime they're interesting to study. At least I've learned there's a lot more variation. Report this Post to the Staff
sel_69l Bedrock of the Community Australia 21788 Posts	Posted 03/31/2012 8:53 pm The further you get away in time and distance from the original coins, the more barbarous the copies become. A good example of this is the Celtic coinage of England, which is removed from Macedonian originals by 200 years and 2000 kilometres. In this case, the gold stater of Philip 11 (Apollo obv., biga rev.) was copied. Report this Post to the Staff
stevex6 Pillar of the Community 3352 Posts	Posted 03/31/2012 9:36 pm DVC => curious? ... so are my "suspect" coins starting to look better, or worse? Report this Post to the Staff
DVCollector Bedrock of the Community United States 10045 Posts	Posted 03/31/2012 9:39 pm Well...your coins might be "barbarous", which simply means they're ancient imitations or made in frontier areas. At least that one expert suspects your Athens tet was from Phoenicia, but you'll know for sure. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,334

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