A Golden Oldie from Alexander the Great

WillieBoyd2

Alexander the Great of Macedonia - Gold Stater - Babylon



Helmeted head of Athena facing right with griffin or serpent on helmet
Nike standing left, holding wreath, MI on left, monogram in wreath below right wing
BASILEUS ALEXANDROY (King Alexander)
Struck (Posthumous) c. BC 311-305, Babylon mint
Weight: 8.56gm, diameter approx 20mm

Listed in Martin Jessop Price's 1991 book
The Coinage In The Name Of Alexander The Great as number 3749.
From Harlan J. Berk, Chicago

Alexander the Great, born Macedonia in BC 356, died Babylon in BC 323, age 32.

It was expensive but I love the design, a real work of ancient art.

JCMhouston

Mmmmm..., pretty gold!

Silvereagle82

classic

theboz11

Gotta love that even if you don't collect them.

Hussulo

I would love to own one at some point.

Askari

I'd love to have one!

canadacolornut

YESSIR!!

TheBigB

Beauty.

HTubbs

That's a fantastic piece!

BillyKingsley

That's really incredible. Guys like me won't ever be able to even see one of these in person most likely, so thanks for letting me (us) live vicariously through your photos!

worldcoinguy

Wowzers - what an amazing piece. That one deserves the beer icon....

DorkGirl

Amazing piece! Thanks for sharing.

lordmarcovan

First you buy an aureus, and now this.

I think maybe you suck.

(green w/envy)

determined

That is a very nice one.



<< <i>Struck (Posthumous) c. BC 311-305, Babylon mint

Listed in Martin Jessop Price's 1991 book
The Coinage In The Name Of Alexander The Great as number 3749. >>



Price suggests the "MI" mint mark series started when Seleucus I Nicator returned to Babylon in 311 BC.


Some very brief historical background -

After Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, his empire was divided among his generals. Although these generals were still under the dual kingship of Alexander's half-brother Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander's son Alexander IV, who was just a child.

Seleucus ended up as the satrap of Babylon.

Eventually Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV were killed off. And in time the generals declared themselves kings of their territories with aspirations to the enlarge their territories and even wanting to be seen as the next Alexander.

Actually, a series of wars between the generals started right after Alexander's death and continued for many years and are known as The Diadochi Wars or The Successor Wars. These series of wars extended from 323 to 280 BC.


In 315 BC Seleucus fled from Babylon to Egypt to escape from Antigonus Monophthalmus. With the help of Ptolemy, Seleucus was able to regain the control and rule of Babylon in 311 BC. This was at the end of the Third War of the Diadochi, 314–311 BC.

It was with the return of Seleucus to Babylon in 311 BC that Price suggests was the start of the "MI" mint mark series of coins.

So your coin appears to have been minted in Babylon under Seleucus I Nicator.


Also at that time occurred the Babylonian War. In 310 BC Antigonus Monophthalmus attacked and entered Babylon but was soon driven back by Seleucus.

Your coin has a lot of history surrounding it.

To me, knowing the historic context of a coin adds to it's attraction. Even to one already as nice as yours.


The wars between the successors are an incredibly interesting period of history peopled with extraordinary characters. The coins of the Successors are a major collecting focus of mine. The guy on the coin of my forum avatar is Demetrius Poliorcetes. He was the son of Antigonus Monophthalmus and continued the fight for dominance over the other Successors after his father was killed in the Battle of Ipsus in 306 BC.

Demetrius Poliorcetes was eventually captured by Seleucus. Seleucus didn't kill Demetrius but kept him captive in what may have comfortable surroundings, because it seems that Demetrius had access to plenty of wine. And in a few years he drank himself to death, lamenting I imagine, the fact that he never would be the next Alexander.