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Kings of Macedon. Philip III Arrhidaeus (323-317 B.C.) in type of Philip II (359-336 B.C.)
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Sear 6689-6691 var. (sequence mark); Le Rider pl. 45, 31-2; Troxell, Studies, Group 6, 362; SNG ANS 621
AR fifth tetradrachm; Amphipolis mint; struck under Antipater or Polyperchon, ca. 320/19-317 B.C. ; 2.54 g., 13.18 mm. max., 180▫
Obv: Head of Apollo right, wearing tainia
Rev: ΦIΛIΠΠOΥ, rider on horseback facing right, Ε in wreath below
Le Rider notes that these coins are too heavy to be considered tetrobols on the standard of the tetradrachm of the period (ca. 14.29–14.39 g), which would require a coin of, at most, 2.38–2.40 g. Nor are they heavy enough to be truly fifths of a tetradrachm (ca. 2.86–2.88), such as the fifths with the same types were in the lifetime coinage of Philip. Le Rider suggests that these fractions could pass at their period as tetrobols on the Attic standard, but on the whole prefers to regard them as fifths of the tetradrachm. Their correct denomination remains unclear.
The obverse features the head of Apollo, who became the tutelary deity of Philip II in 353 B.C. during the Third Sacred War. Vowing he would fight on behalf of the god, whose sacred treasury at Delphi had been stolen, precipitating the conflict, he used the war as an opportunity to expand his control in Greece. The rider on the reverse, similar to the reverse of Philip II’s tetradrachms, ostensibly extols his victory in the horse race at the Olympic Games in 356 B.C. However, the reverse also recalls the earlier Macedonian royal types, possibly an attempt to emphasize his Macedonian ancestry.
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