KINGS OF MACEDON. Demetrios I Poliorketes, 306-283 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 17.23 g), Amphipolis, c. 289-288. Diademed head of Demetrios to right, with bull’s horn above his forehead. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ Poseidon, nude, standing to left, his right foot on a rock, holding a trident with his left hand and resting his right on his right thigh; in outer field to right, monogram of ΜΗΤ; in outer field to left, monogram of ΕΥΦ. Newell 121 (CXVIII/230). Pozzi 963 ( same dies ). SNG Copenhagen 1177. Beautifully toned, with a fine portrait and a noble figure of Poseidon, both in high relief, all struck on a broad flan. Old scratch under the toning on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.

From a Swiss collection, ex Gorny & Mosch 207, 15 October 2012, 179, from the Rockefeller University Collection and the collection of Dr. Alfred E. Mirsky, Gemini VII, 9 January 2011, 280, and from the collection of J. Campion, Glendining & Co., 30 November 1937, 47.

Many connoisseur-collectors greatly appreciate the totality of coin, not merely condition, but the wholistic impression the coin gives to the beholder. When this coin was acquired by its present owner, he bought it because of its lovely portrait, its high relief figure of Poseidon and its extremely attractive toning. As for the prominent old scratch on the reverse, he thought it 'humanized' the coin in a most positive way by removing it from being perfection and making it more approachable. For him this coin is a true treasure.