Stater In the name of Philip II, Pella

These staters were struck posthumously in Philip II's name for decades after his assassination in 336 BC — a deliberate policy of his successors, including the early Diadochi, to leverage the immense commercial trust Philip's gold coinage had built across the Greek world. By 323 BC, the type had circulated so widely that it functioned as an international trade currency from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. Continuing to strike under the established name rather than introducing new royal types was a straightforward commercial calculation, not sentiment.

Le Rider's die study identified meaningful variation across this span, with later strikes showing subtle shifts in style attributable to changing engravers at Pella.