Triton XVII, Lot: 179. Estimate $3000. Sold for $2500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Perseus. 179-168 BC. AR Didrachm (23mm, 8.53 g, 12h). Attic standard. Pella or Amphipolis mint; Zoilos, mintmaster. Struck circa 178-174 BC. Diademed head right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠEPΣEΩΣ, sword; ZΩ (mintmaster's) monogram above, ΔI monogram and Ξ below; all within oak-wreath; star to outer left. Mamroth, Perseus 14x var. (lower control marks); SNG Berry 372 var. (same); SNG Copenhagen 1270 var. (control marks); SNG München 1200 var. (same). Near EF, toned, light scratch on neck. Extremely rare denomination for Perseus.

From the RAJ Collection. Ex Freeman & Sear FPL 12 (Winter 2007), no. 53; Triton V (15 January 2002), lot 1314.

Born in 212 BC to Philip V of Macedon, Perseus succeeded his father to the throne. Perseus was already a seasoned intriguer, since he had convinced Philip to poison his son (and Perseus' brother) Demetrios as a possible usurper. Demetrios had been friendly to Rome and had been Macedonian ambassador there. Although Perseus renewed the Macedonian treaty with Rome, the Romans were wary of him, a feeling intensified by the new king's actions: He meddled in the affairs of his neighbors; he expelled the pro-Roman Thracian king, Abroupolis, from his territories; he made a trip to Delphi with armed supporters; he put off meeting with Roman ambassadors; and he arranged dynastic marriages that became a concern for Rome. All of this led to the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC). Although Perseus was initially successful, he was roundly defeated at the Battle of Pydna by Lucius Aemilius Paullus (later surnamed Macedonicus). Captured along with his half-brother, Phillipos, and his son, Alexander, they were imprisoned in Italy at Alba Fucens. With him, the dynasty founded by Antigonos I Monophthalmos was finished.