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Stater - Philip III Arrhidaeus Pella
| Issuer | Kingdom of Macedonia |
|---|---|
| Year | 323 BC - 310 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in fine relief with naturalistic detail characteristic of late Classical Macedonian die engraving. The youthful effigy displays carefully articulated wavy hair crowned with a laurel wreath, with loose locks falling behind the neck. The facial features are idealized, with a straight nose, slightly parted lips, and a smooth cheek. The portrait fills the flan with no surrounding legend or border, in the established tradition of Philip II gold stater coinage continued under Philip III Arrhidaeus. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ (Translation: Philip (III)) |
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| Additional information |
Philip III Arrhidaeus was the half-brother of Alexander the Great — intellectually disabled, almost certainly exploited as a figurehead by competing factions of the diadochi — and the coins struck in his name at Pella continued the Philip II gold stater types almost without interruption. The design was a deliberate act of political continuity, not artistic inertia. Whoever controlled Philip III controlled the legitimate face of Macedonian authority, and the coinage broadcast that claim.
He was murdered in 317 BC on the orders of Olympias, Alexander's mother, making the later dates in this emission posthumous issues struck by regents consolidating power after his death.