GREEK COINS Kings of Paeonia Patraos, c. 335-315 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27mm, 12.69g 11). Laureate head of Apollo to right. Rev. ΠΑ-ΤΡΑΟΥ Paeonian horse­man, wearing crested helmet and full armor, galloping right and spea­ring fallen Persian cavalryman (wearing kybasia and robeslat kausia, and holding a round shield); below horse’s tail, thunderbolt; to right, bunch of grapes. AMNG Pl. XXXVII, 17 ( same dies ). Cf. Paeonian Hoard 100 ff. ( same obverse die ). An exceptional and rare variant, struck on a very broad flan. Extremely fine. Acquired from Tradart in the 1980s, ex Leu 25, 23 April 1980, 120. This coin is an unusually fine and attractive example of a very extensive coinage; it stands out from the normal issues by its el­egant and well-proportioned head of Apollo (vaguely reminis­cent of those from Olynthos) and the quite extraordinary reverse scene. All the coins of this general series show a cavalryman rid­ing down an enemy, but the enemy is not always the same: in some cases he wears Greek armor and a helmet, and in others a flat cap. It has often been assumed that this fallen enemy is Mace­donian and, thus, is a reflection of the long struggles that took place between Paeonia and Macedonia. However, at the time this coin was struck Paeonia was allied and subject to Alexander - Patraos’ brother Ariston (father of the later king Audoleon) even commanded a troop of Paeonian cavalry in Alexander’s army. In fact, this coin is believed by many to show the moment when Ariston speared the Persian commander Satropates through the throat in a skirmish prior to the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC (apparently modern day Tel Gomel near Mosul): the fallen war­rior’s costume is definitely Persian. For this theory see P. Free­man, Alexander the Great (New York, 2011), p. 173.