Ancients THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (305-281 BC). AR tetradrachm

Ancients
THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (305-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 17.06 gm, 1h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Pergamum, ca. 297-281 BC. Diademed head of deified Alexander III right, with horn of Ammon / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ, Athena enthroned left, Nike in outstretched right hand crowning royal name, resting left arm on grounded shield decorated with gorgoneion boss, transverse spear beyond; herm left in outer left field, ΔΞ monogram in inner left field. Mueller 91. SNG Copenhagen 1095-6. Struck from artistic dies, excellently centered on bright flan.

Alexander the Great's meteoric 13-year career of conquest left the classical world profoundly transformed by the time of his premature death in 323 BC. In the immediate aftermath, Alexander's generals carved up his immense new empire into spheres of influence, although maintaining the fiction of a unified leadership. Territorial disputes soon led to civil wars, with the rival warlords contending for supreme power. Chief among these was Lysimachus, who at various times controlled Thrace, Macedon and much of Asia Minor. For the obverse of his silver his coinage, Lysimachus claimed the mantle of Alexander by choosing the image of the conqueror himself, now shown as a god wearing the ram's horn of the Greco-Egyptian deity Ammon. The image is one of the earliest true portraits to appear on a coin, and one of the finest. The reverse, depicting Athena enthroned, likewise proved extremely influential throughout history, forming the archetype for the figure of Britannia on modern English coins.

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HID02906262019

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Estimate: 2000-3000 USD