Antigonos II Gonatas AR Tetradrachm | Athena Facing Right

KINGS of MACEDON. Antigonos II Gonatas. 277-239 BC. AR Tetradrachm (31 mm, 16.87 g, 2 h). Struck circa 271/0 BC. Extremely rare.

Obverse: Horned head of Pan left, wearing goat skin, lagobolon over shoulder, in the center of a Macedonian shield decorated with seven eight-pointed stars within double crescents.

Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ [A]NTIΓONOΥ, Athena Alkidemos advancing right, brandishing thunderbolt in her right hand, holding shield decorated with aegis on her left arm; kalathos to inner left, monogram to inner right.

Mint: Uncertain, most likely Pella. The strongest evidence for this, according to Mathisen, is the continuity of monograms found on the coins minted at the royal capital.

Provenance: From a private French collection, which originally acquired this specimen from Guy Loudmer et Hervé Poulain at Hôtel Drouot Paris, 1977.

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Pan's Epiphany

In 277 BC, Antigonos Gonatas secured a decisive victory over Gallic invaders at the Battle of Lysimachia. Hailed as the savior of Macedon, he ascended to the throne not as a conqueror, but as a hero. Gonatas attributed his victory over the barbarians to divine intervention, what he referred to as “Pan’s Epiphany” (it is said that there were various natural disasters, including landslides, during the battle, which caused panic among the Gauls, leading to their demise). According to “The Making of a King” by Robin Waterfield, Antigonos purposefully allowed himself to be amalgamated with the god Pan, and this is especially seen on his “Athena Pan” tetradrachms, where one can easily see the king’s trademark “snub nose” depicted on Pan.

Interestingly, on Athena Right issues such as my coin, Pan looks more refined and humanlike than the typical “rough” and wild-eyed god seen on the usual Athena Left issues. Perhaps this is the closest we can get to having a portrait of this oft-forgotten king of Macedon, my personal favorite Hellenistic king, who served his kingdom with, as the renowned historian Sir William Woodthorpe Tarn so aptly put it, “a glorious servitude.”

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A Rare Athena

Athena Alkidemos, meaning “Athena Defender of the People,” was the patron goddess of Pella, the Macedonian royal capital. Besides being a statement of Antigonos Gonatas’ divinely-sanctioned royal authority, the goddess also symbolized the Macedonian king’s victory over his archrival, Pyrrhos of Epeiros, who had also designated the thunderbolt-wielding Athena as his personal patron goddess.

Typically, the coins of Antigonos Gonatas depict Athena facing left with her back to the viewer. However, on this extremely rare issue with “a more refined style” as Mathisen puts it, Athena is portrayed facing right. I particularly like the Athena on my coin, with her mouth open in battlecry (the goddess’ mouth is usually closed, even on rare Athena Right issues).

Riferimento : TEA Period I, Group 46/47, – (O36/R168 [unlisted die combination]); HGC 3, 1042; Mathisen pl. 22, 37 (same type as this coin); AMNG III 2; SNG München -; SNG Alpha Bank -; SNG Berry -.

Collezione : Ex Virgo Ancients | Consigned