Unknown Alexander The Great tetradrachm type?

[Niko P]

Hi folks,

I bought this tetradrachm from [Removed by moderator] and cannot
find the monogram anywhere, I already searched the complete PELLA archive and also wildwinds.com and Price's books. I also searched hundreds of archived auctions from the past years. No match...

It's a smaller, chunky coin like similar to a lifetime issue. 25mm, 16,85g.

Does somebody have any info?

Thank you very much!

[Curtis JJ]

I don't have any problem accepting this as a genuine. But it can be hard to ID them from just a monogram if it's not one of the common ones or there's nothing distinctive to a particular mint.

You said you searched through PELLA thoroughly. So you may have tried this already, but did you see the Symbols page with "Constituent Letters" search?

https://numismatics.org/pella/symbols

It looks like there's a "K" on the right, so I limited it to "K" symbols/monograms and still couldn't find it -- they can be tricky, though, maybe it's a sideways V or  . (Trying "K," the closest I noticed was a much later Smyrna issue, but you may see something I didn't.)

https://numismatics.org/pella/symbols?symbol=%CE%9A

There are so many minor variations, though, that many are unpublished. Your best bet may be to keep an eye out for a similar symbol and try to compare style to decide if it could be from the same mint.

[Arados]

I was going to answer you yesterday but time ran out during the evening. I am in total agreement with Curtis regarding authenticity and that your coin is more than likely unpublished. I also searched the Pella website and painstakingly went through the symbols and I think i see iconographic similarities to coins of Chios and Western Asia. I have separated the individual letters of the symbol seen on your coin (OMY & K), so hopefully this will help you in part to place your coin within a certain group.
 
Hope this was of some help.
 
Regards
Martin

[djmacdo]

I also see an A in there.  That is the trouble with monograms--they can be read in so many ways.  They are the most frustrating aspect of numismatics.

[Altamura]

And there is still no letter including the lower horizontal bar. Perhaps an epsilon or sigma.

Regards

Altamura

[Keles]

There are several other possible letters, e.g. H, Π, horizontal Y, etc. However, I think that a decomposition of the monogram into individual letters is not an effective way of identifying the mint, because there are many possible decompositions, and the monogram may not be related to the name of the city at all. Perhaps the way the backless throne is depicted and the overall artistic style of the coin could provide some clues, which could narrow down the range of possible candidates.

In any case, it is a remarkable coin. Congratulations on its acquisition.

[Anaximander]

Looks unpublished to me.  I did not find a match in Müller Alexander, though there were similarities in monogram with several coins (mostly listed as incerti).  Muller may have classified this tetradrachm as Type IV or Type V, with the enthroned Zeus' right leg pulled behind the left. 

PELLA has a nice symbols feature. Spell out your letters, and it shows Price monograms. Nothing relevant shows up with M and K.

In perusing Price Alexander, I came across a similar obverse that had a TK monogram on its reverse: 3110 (Cyprus: Citium) with the right leg pulled back. The title ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ would have to be off flan. Have a look at PELLA. Not a match for your coin, but one of the only mints I could find with a suitable K in the monogram. Other mints (including Perga, Callatis, and Lampsacus) have different styles of lion's mane on the obverse.

[Niko P]

Thank you very much for the very informative responses, folks!

Please excuse the late response, I somehow lost my account (?) and could not log in.