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1⁄12 Stater - Philip II Pella
| Issuer | Kingdom of Macedonia |
|---|---|
| Year | 359 BC - 336 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.72 g |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in fine archaic-to-classical transitional style. The hair is elaborately arranged in layered locks bound by a laurel wreath, with individual strands carefully delineated. The facial features display a youthful idealisation characteristic of Macedonian royal coinage of the 4th century BC. The flan is irregular, as typical of hammered gold fractions of this period. |
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| Reverse description | A winged thunderbolt depicted horizontally at centre, with a lion's head below, both rendered in relief on the small hammered flan. The Greek legend ΦIΛIΠΠOΥ (of Philip) is inscribed between the thunderbolt and the lion's head, identifying the issuing authority. The devices are boldly struck despite the diminutive size of the flan, reflecting the skilled die-cutting of the Pella mint. The overall composition is compact and well-centred, consistent with the Le Rider series 6 classification. |
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| Additional information |
Philip II financed his military machine partly through exploitation of the gold and silver mines at Mount Pangaion, seized from Thracian control after 356 BC. That windfall funded not only his campaigns but an unprecedented expansion of Macedonian coinage, including fractional gold denominations small enough to pay individual soldiers or settle minor transactions in occupied territory. At 0.72 g, this twelfth-stater sits at the practical lower limit of ancient gold coinage — any lighter and the flan becomes nearly impossible to strike cleanly.