Description

MACEDON. Chalcidian League. Ca. 432-348 BC. AR tetradrachm (23mm, 14.44 gm, 5h). Fine Style. Olynthus, ca. 420-379 BC. Laureate head of Apollo left / Χ-Α-ΛΚΙΔ-ΕΩΝ, cithara with seven strings; tripod between yoke. SNG ANS 484-487. HGC 3.1, 497 corr. (tripod symbol sometimes present, different arrangement of ethnic). A handsome, Fine Style, Classical Period portrait of Apollo, with his beauty further accentuated by toning around the devices.
The Chalcidice is a three-fingered area of land extending from eastern Macedon into the Aegean Sea. Wary of Athenian imperialism and the rising power of the Macedonian Kingdom, the free cities of the Chalcidice banded together in ca. 432 BC to form a defensive coalition called the Chalcidian League, with its capital of Olynthus. The silver coinage struck at Olynthus was on the Macedonian standard, somewhat lighter than the Attic standard employed by most of Greece, and was legal tender at all cities belonging to the league. The standard design featured a head of Apollo, god of beauty, art and music, with a type of lyre called a cithara on the reverse. The head of Apollo on these pieces are remarkable for the strength and beauty of their style. Sadly, the Chalcidian League’s coinage came to an end with the capture and destruction of Olynthus by King Philip II of Macedon in ca. 348 BC.