AR Tetradrachm 290-289 v. Chr. KINGDOM OF MACEDONIA - DEMETRIOS POLIORKETES, 306-283 BC - Demetrias, 290-289 B.C. Very impressive coin of good style and with fine details.

Demetrios Poliorketes was the son of Antigonos Monophthalmos (the One-eyed), who assumed control of Asia after the death of Alexander the Great. Demetrios earned his nickname Poliorketes (Besieger) from his extensive use of siege machines in an unsuccessful attempt to take the island of Rhodes in 305 BC After their forces were defeated and Antigonos was killed at the Battle of Ipsos in 301 BC, Demetrios fled with a large fleet and attempted to establish a base for his power first in Cilicia and then in Greece and Macedonia. Like other successors of Alexander, Demetrios at first issued coins with Alexander′s types, although he quickly replaced Alexander′s name with his own and added the royal title of basileus that both he and his father had assumed in 306 BC Soon he established a number of his own types, culminating in the types for these tetradrachms, which were issued in large numbers from c. 290 BC in preparation for Demetrios′ invasion of Asia Minor. The invasion ended disastrously and Demetrios was imprisoned by Seleukos he died in captivity in 283 BC

On the obverse is a youthful, idealized head of Demetrios with the royal diadem and the horns of a bull, the animal sacred to Demetrios′ patron deity, Poseidon. With these aspects of divinity Demetrios became the first of Alexander′s successors to assimilate elements of Alexander′s deified portrait and the first living ruler to portray himself as a divinity on his coins. The bull′s horns were intended to suggest that he stood in the same relationship to Poseidon as Alexander had to Zeus Ammon. The portrait is individualized, but the upward gaze and flowing hair are meant to evoke the image of Alexander.

On the reverse is Demetrios′ patron deity, Poseidon, apparently inspired by the original of the Lateran Poseidon, a statue usually attributed to Lysippos, the court sculptor of Alexander. Demetrios′ association with Poseidon dated to his naval victory off Cyprus in 306 BC, after which he considered himself lord of the sea. SNG.Copenhagen- | Newell 144 | Pozzi collection 965 | Alpha Bank- |
James collection 1004 RR
Very impressive coin of good style and with fine details.
xf-

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