Mesembria (Alexander the Great), silver, tetradrachms (250-175 BCE) Marinescu - Lorber
From SILVER
250 BCE - 175 BCE Silver 1,982 kg
Description
| Obverse: | Head of Heracles right, wearing Nemean lion skin headdress. |
| Reverse: | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ (Greek).Zeus Aëtophoros seated to left, holding sceptre, crested Corinthian helmet below throne |
Mint and issuing power
| Mint: | Mesembria | Ancient region: | Thrace | Modern country: Bulgaria | Authority: | Alexander III the Great (Argead king, 336-323 BC) |
Chronology
| From | 250 BCE | to | 175 BCE | Period: Hellenistic 323-30 BC 
|
Physical description
| Metal: | Silver
|
Median weight in grams | 16.80 | Denomination: | tetradrachm
|
Standard: | Attic |
Image
References
| Die study reference: | "[[Die study reference" contains a listed "[" character as part of the property label and has therefore been classified as invalid.]]1Marinescu - Lorber 2012 | ||
| Coin series reference: | |||
| Coin series web reference: | |||
Obverse dies distribution
| Frequency ᵖ | Number of obverses ᵖ (o) | % (o) | Number of coins (n) | % (n) | Die name |
| 1 | 1 | 16.67 | 1 | 1.03 | A |
| 7 | 1 | 16.67 | 7 | 7.22 | F |
| 8 | 1 | 16.67 | 8 | 8.25 | B |
| 9 | 1 | 16.67 | 9 | 9.28 | C |
| 25 | 1 | 16.67 | 25 | 25.77 | D |
| 47 | 1 | 16.67 | 47 | 48.45 | E |
| Total | 6 of 6 | 100.02 | 97 of 97 | 100 |
Reverse dies distribution
no distribution is available
Quantification
| Number of obverses ᵖ (o) | 6 | Number of singletons (o1) ᵖ | 1 |
| Number of reverse dies (r) | 28 | Number of coins (n) | 97 |
| Coins per obverse die (n/o) | 16.17 | Coins per reverse die (n/r) | 3.46 |
| Reverse per obverse ratio (r/o) | 4.67 | Percentage of singletons (o1) ᵖ | 16.67 % |
| Original number of dies (O) (Carter 1983 formula) ᵖ | 5.9 | Coins struck if 20,000 as average productivity per die ᵖ | 118,000 |
| Original number of dies (O) (Esty 2011 formula) ᵖ (O) | 6.4 | Survival rate if 20,000 as average productivity per die ᵖ | 0.00082 |
| Coverage (o = % of O) (Esty 1984 formula) ᵖ (o = % of O) | 98.97% | Die productivity if survival rate 1/2,000 ᵖ | 32,881.36 |
| Weight of silver (in kg) if 20,000 coins per die (O = Carter formula) ᵖ | 1,982 kg <br /> 1,982 kg | Die productivity if survival rate 1/5,000 ᵖ | 82,203.39 |
Remarks
Most likely one single workstation Likely military Price 1991, n° 972
References
- ^ Marinescu Constantin A. and Catharine C. Lorber (2012), "The ‘Black Sea’ tetradrachm hoard”, in E. Paunov and S. Filipova (eds.), ΗΡΑΚΛΕΟΥΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΘΑΣΙΩΝ. Studia in honorem Iliae Prokopov sexagenario ab amicis et discipulis dedicata, Tirnovo, 2012, p. 197-259 (p. 213-214).
