By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek …..
The extent of the Kingdom of Macedonia is as ill-defined as its history is fragmentary (Raymond, 3).
ANCIENT MACEDONIANS[1] WERE on the margins of the Greek world. Although permitted to compete in the Olympics, the Macedonians spoke a distinctive dialect. While their neighbors were creating novel forms of government like democracy, oligarchy and tyranny, the Macedonians clung stubbornly to archaic tribal kingship.
Alexander the Great was the third king of his name in Macedon, so we might reasonably wonder who those other Alexanders were. The Argead dynasty[2] to which our Alexander belonged claimed descent from the mythical hero and demigod Herakles, but the list of rulers begins with the legendary King Karanos, c. 808 BCE. Skip around a little more (more than three hundred years later), and we get to the first Macedonian king to issue coins in his own name, Alexander I (ruled 498-454).
Alex I
The rugged mountains of Macedon’s surrounding region held rich deposits of silver that were exploited from an early date by non-Greek tribes such as the Derrones, Bisaltai and Orreskioi. Beginning around 500 BCE, they issued heavy trade coins (oktadrachms of about 29 grams and dodekadrachms of 40 grams or more) eventually inscribed with the names of tribes or chieftains. These coins depicted oxcarts, bulls, and riders beside their horses[3], and they inspired the earliest Macedonian coinage.
Under Darius the Great (ruled 522-486 BCE), Persia invaded the Balkans, making Macedon’s kings their vassals. Caught between Persians and Greeks, Alexander I (ruled 498-454 BCE) played a delicate game, helping both sides, earning the epithet Philhellene (“Lover of the Greeks”).
Alexander’s coins are mostly anonymous, copying the types of neighboring tribes. About 480 BCE, he inscribed his name on the reverse of his silver oktadrachm, the letters arranged around a simple quartered square. In 2001, a unique example of this type with a prestigious pedigree brought over $15,000 USD in a Swiss auction[4].
The little silver diobol (1.8 grams) of Alexander I bore the image of a billy goat[5], a pun on the name of his capital, Aegeae (aiga in Greek means “goat”).
The denomination struck in greatest quantity was the silver tetrobol or four-obol piece (six obols make one drachma). There were two different designs for the tetrobol, each using a different weight standard. The heavy tetrobol (about 2.4 grams) depicted a horse[6] and rider with two javelins, and was used for foreign trade. The light tetrobol (about 2 grams), bearing a horse alone, circulated within the kingdom.
Alexander died in 454 BCE and his alcoholic son Alcetas II, came to the throne. No coins are known for Alcetas, who was murdered by a nephew in 448. The father of that nephew, Perdikkas II (spelled “Perdiccas” in some sources) became king.
Perdikkas II
The facts that during the first seventeen years of his reign Perdiccas was only master of the western half of his kingdom, and that during the remainder of his life he was almost continuously engaged in warfare, may serve to explain how it is that so few coins have come down to us from his forty-one years’ reign (Head, xlviii).
The long reign of Perdikkas II (448-413 BCE) was dominated by the epic Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, in which Macedon repeatedly switched sides.
Perdikkas lost control of the silver mines and his coinage is limited to small denominations: light and heavy tetrobols, diobols, and tiny obols. On the reverse of his coins, the forepart of a charging lion appears[7]. Real lions still roamed Macedon’s hills during this era, and royal lion hunts were a popular theme in Macedonian art. But the lion on the coins may be a reference to the mythical Nemean lion killed by Herakles.
Perdikkas died in 413 BCE and his son Archelaus became king.
Archelaus I
A great builder, art patron, and reformer, Archelaus I moved his capital from Aegeae to Pella. He provided Athens with ship timber from Macedon’s forests. And under his 14-year reign, Macedon became a major power in the Greek world.
Archelaus’ coinage was abundant, in good metal, and of fine Classical style. He issued small denomination bronze, indicating a thriving urban economy where people needed to make small daily purchases. From his time forward, all Macedonian royal coins bear the king’s name, often abbreviated to a few letters. The standard type was the stater or didrachm of about 10.6 grams, which bears a male head on the obverse and a walking horse on the reverse[8]. Often described as Apollo, the head nonetheless lacks his emblematic laurel wreath; Kraay (page 144) suggests that the effigy may be Perdikkas I, a legendary early king (c. 700-678 BCE).
Like many ancient rulers, Archelaus was killed while hunting, possibly assassinated by a royal page. Archelaus’ brother Aeropus II became king in 399.
Aeropus II
Aeropus reigned just four years; his coins are very rare. A magnificent stater–“finely toned and of lovely style”, according to the catalog–brought almost $44,000 in a 2018 European auction[9].
He was succeeded by his nephew Archelaus II, who died in another hunting “accident” after only a year.
Pausanias
Perhaps consequently, his coins are scarce. A stater[10] of Pausanias brought over $11,000 in a recent European auction.
Amyntas II
Amyntas II, nicknamed “the Little”, was a nephew of Perdikkas II. He briefly seized the throne in 393 before he was assassinated. His rare stater copies the design used by his predecessors[11]. The reverse of his small bronze dichalkon shows the fore part of a wolf[12], which was the civic emblem of Argos, the ancient Greek city the Argead dynasty claimed as their place of origin.
Amyntas III
After decades of instability, Amyntas III became king in 393 BCE and restored order, ruling for 23 years. A pretender named Argaeus briefly seized the throne in 393 but was driven out a year later.
Amyntas forged lasting alliances with neighboring tribes and cities. His formidable wife, Eurydike[13], bore three sons who each became king of Macedon in turn: Alexander II, Perdikkas III, and Philip II. On his fairly common silver stater[14], Amyntas replaced the youthful male head on the obverse with a bearded head of Herakles wearing the pelt of the Nemean lion[15] as a head-dress.
Alexander II
Perdikkas III
Little is known about the five-year reign of this young king, who executed his regent shortly after taking the throne in 365. Perdikkas III tried to reconquer some northern territory and fell in battle in 360 against the Illyrians. Silver coins of Perdikkas III are rare; a tiny diobol (.85 gram) bearing the head of Herakles, with his bow and club on the reverse, sold for $5,000 in a 2010 auction[18]. The more common bronze coinage appeared with several attractive designs, including a lion breaking a javelin in his jaws[19].
Perdikkas III left an infant son, Amyntas IV[20], who was quickly deposed by Philip II, a brilliant military commander, shrewd nation-builder, and father of Alexander the Great. Philip’s vast output of silver and gold circulated widely and influenced Western coinage for centuries. But that is a story for another day…
Collecting the Macedonians
Auction catalogs and reference books are arranged according to traditional geographic regions. The category “Kings of Macedon” usually appears after listings for Macedon’s tribes and independent cities. Collecting the early kings is a challenge since many of the coins are so rare. The standard reference in English is Hoover (2016), which is still in print (list price $65).
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Notes
[1] The name “Macedonia” has been a bone of contention between modern Greece and the mainly Slavic Republic of Northern Macedonia. To avoid offense to any ethnic sentiments, the ancient kingdom, which included the territory of several Balkan nations, will be referred to as “Macedon”.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argead_dynasty
[3] CNG Triton VIII, January 11, 2005, Lot 218, realized $9000 (estimate $7500)
[4] Leu Numismatic Auction 81, May 16, 2001, Lot 173, realized CHF 27,000 ($15,581) estimate CHF 32,000
[5] Leu Numismatic Auction 81, May 16, 2001, Lot 174, realized CHF 2900 ($1673) estimate CHF 2750
[6] CNG Triton VIII, January 11, 2005, Lot 131, Realized $500 (estimate $500)
[7] CNG Electronic Auction 452, September 18, 2019, Lot 149, realized $160 (estimate $150)
[8] CNG Electronic Auction 52, November 6, 2002, Lot 23, realized $600 (estimate $500)
[9] Nomos Auction 16, May 10 2018, Lot 66, realized CHF 44,000 ($43,816) estimate CHF 45,000
[10] Nomos Auction 15, October 22, 2017, Lot 58, realized CHF 11,000 ($11,185) estimate CHF 7,500
[11] NAC Auction 33, April 6, 2006, Lot 121, realized CHF 5,250 ($4,071) estimate CHF 4,000
[12] CNG Mail Bid Sale 82, September 16, 2009, Lot 408, realized $550 (estimate $200)
[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurydice_I_of_Macedon
[14] CNG Electronic Auction 223, December 2, 2009, Lot 34, realized $625 (estimate $150)
[15] https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/lions-ancient-coins/
[16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_of_Aloros
[17] LHS Numismatik Auction 102, April 29, 2008, Lot 132, realized CHF 1300 ($1259) estimate CHF 500
[18] Gemini Auction VI, January 10, 2010, Lot 63, realized $5000 (estimate $3500)
[19] CNG Electronic Auction 129, December 21, 2005, Lot 61, realized $295 (estimate $150)
[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyntas_IV_of_Macedon
References
Head, Barclay. Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum: Macedonia Etc. London (1879)
Hoover, Oliver. Handbook of the Coins of Macedon and Its Neighbors. Lancaster, PA (2016)
Kraay, Colin. Archaic and Classical Greek Coins. New York (1976)
Kremydi S. “Coinage and Finance”, Brill’s Companion to Ancient Macedon. Robin Lane Fox (editor). Leiden (2011)
Raymond, Doris. Macedonian Regal Coinage to 413 B.C. New York (1953)
Sear, David. Greek Coins and Their Values, Volume 1: Europe. London (1978)
Seltman, Charles. Greek Coins (2nd edition). London (1955)
