Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVI - Session 2 . 417
Greek
Category
PERSIA, Alexandrine Empire. temp. Stamenes – Seleukos. Satraps of Babylon, circa 328/3-311 BC. AV Double Daric (19.5mm, 16.71 g). Babylon mint. Persian king or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, quiver over shoulder, in kneeling-running stance right, holding dagger in right hand, bow in left; satrapal bonnet to left / Patterned incuse punch. Carradice Type IV Late (pl. XV, 54 var. [no bonnet]); Meadows, Administration –; BMC Arabia pl. XX, 1 var. (same); Sunrise 38 var. (same); CNG 120, lot 494 (same die and punch [hammer $38,000]); CNG 106, lot 516 corr. (bonnet not noted). Some flatness to strike. Near VF. Extremely rare with bonnet. Ex Stack's Bowers Galleries (5 August 2020), lot 20078; Classical Numismatic Group 112 (11 September 2019), lot 364 (erroneously attributed to Dareios III).Carradice lists this type with all the late double darics that he attributes as Alexandrine issues. Nicolet-Pierre, in her article on the Alexandrine gold and silver at Babylon, though, does not mention any Type IV Late double darics, only pieces similar to Type III, where the king/hero holds a spear, and all include control marks. The style of this issue is closer to the standard darics of this type that Carradice gives to the time of Artaxerxes II to Darios III. Thus, it is possible that this was a very late, if not the last, Achaemenid issue, just prior to the defeat of Darios III. However, some have no control marks, as the Achaemenid darics, while the present issue has a control mark that is known on the double darics struck under Alexander. As such, it is most likely that this issue was the among the very earliest of those struck at Babylon by the Alexandrine administration.
Description
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Grade
EUR
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Estimate
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Realized