3801 - Odessus (Alexander the Great) (tetradrachm Heracles/Zeus) over Nicomedes (Nicomedes/Zeus) (MacDonald coll., 101)

Overstrike Database

SILVER ID ^ᵖ: 3801

90 BCE - 70 BCE | BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛΕΞANΔΡΟΥ ΟΔΗΣΙΤΩΝ

Images

Overstriking coin

SO 866 - Odessus over uncertain mint.jpg

Overstruck variety

Traces of the overstruck variety

Location/history


Private collection(s) ^ᵖ:	D. MacDonald collection, n° 101

Overstriking coin

Description

Obverse:

Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress.

Reverse:

BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛΕΞANΔΡΟΥ ΟΔΗΣΙΤΩΝ (Greek) Zeus enthroned left, holding eagle and scepter. Under the throne, star with six points. In left field, EKA.

Mint and issuing power

Mint:

Odessus

Ancient region

Thrace

Modern country: Bulgaria

Authority:

Alexander III the Great (Argead king, 336-323 BC)

Chronology

From 90 BCE to 70 BCE

Hellenistic ^{323-30 BC}

period

Physical description

Metal: Silver	Weight in grams: 16.0816.08 g <br />16,080 mg <br />	Denomination: tetradrachm	Axis: 1212 mm <br />1.2 cm <br />
		Standard: Attic

References

Coin reference:	MacDonald 2009, p. 133, n° 101, Callataÿ 2021a, p. 279, n° 10	Coin series reference:	"[[Coin series reference" contains a listed "[" character as part of the property label and has therefore been classified as invalid.]]1Price 1991, n° 1197, "[[Coin series reference" contains a listed "[" character as part of the property label and has therefore been classified as invalid.]]2MacDonald 2009, p. 133, n° 101, "[[Coin series reference" contains a listed "[" character as part of the property label and has therefore been classified as invalid.]]3Callataÿ 2021a, p. 279, n° 10
Coin series web reference:	http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.1197

Overstruck type

Description

Obverse:

Head of Nicomedes II right, wearing diadem.

Reverse:

(BAΣΙΛ)ΕΩΣ (ΕΠΙΦ)ΑΝΟΥ(Σ ΝΙΚΟΜHΔΟΥ) (Greek) Zeus standing left, holding staff and proffering laurel wreath. Before, small eagle on thunderbolt, below, two-letter date and monogram (visible: lower portion of Zeus's staff, profile of back of Zeus's leg, trace of head, date, monogram).

Mint and issuing power

Mint ^ᵖ:

Nicomedia

Ancient region ^ᵖ

Bithynia

Modern country: Turkey

Authority ^ᵖ:

Kingdom of Bithynia (late 4th c.-74 BC), Nicomedes III of Bithynia (king of Bithynia, c. 127-94 BC), Nicomedes IV of Bithynia (king of Bithynia, c. 94-74 BC)

Chronology

From 150 BCE to 70 BCE

Hellenistic ^{323-30 BC}

period

Physical description

Denomination ^ᵖ:

tetradrachm

Standard ^ᵖ:

Attic

References

Coin type reference ^ᵖ:

Additional data

Frequency of overstrikes:	exceptional	Level of confidence:	strong
Remarks:

References

^ Price, Martin Jessop (1991), The Coinage in the Name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus: a British Museum Catalogue, 2 vol., Zürich-London, 637 p., 637 p., clix pl.
^ MacDonald, David (2009), Overstruck Greek coins: studies in Greek chronology and monetary theory, Whitman Publishing, Atlanta.
^ Callataÿ, François de (2021), “On pattern and purpose of overstrikes of late Hellenistic tetradrachms in Thrace Macedonia”, in Ulrike Peter and Vladimir Stolba (eds.), Thrace. Local coinage and regional identity, Berlin Studies of the Ancient World 77, Berlin, Topoi, p. 263-289.