Nomos AG, 20
KINGS of MACEDON. Philip II. 359-336 BC. AV Stater (18mm, 8.61 g, 5h). Pella mint. Struck under Antipater, Polyperchon, or Kassander (for Philip III and Alexander IV), circa 323-315 BC. Head of Apollo right, wearing laurel / ΦIΛIΠΠOY, charioteer driving biga right, holding kentron in right hand, reins in left; bucranium below. Le Rider 522 (D224/R382); SNG ANS 178-9 (same dies); SNG München -; SNG Alpha Bank -; SNG Saroglos -; SNG Ashmolean -. FDC, lustrous, tiny nick in field on reverse. A superb example.
Macedonian royal gold coinage flourished under Philip II, whose successes in suppressing the upland tribes facilitated access to the rich precious metal mines located in those regions. Interestingly, the majority of his coins are known from bountiful posthumous issues. A study of their patterns of distribution has revealed that this coinage was heavily used in Greece, Macedon, and western Asia Minor. Apparently, his coinage had become so prevalent in trade in these areas that it continued to be struck by his successors down to the early 3rd century BC.
