Auction Name: 2026 January 12 NYINC World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction - New York

Lot Number: 34005

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/3129*34005

MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Philip II (359-336 BC). AV hemistater (14mm, 4.24 gm, 3h). NGC AU★ 5/5 - 4/5. Lifetime-early posthumous issue. Pella II, ca. 340-328 BC. Head of young Heracles right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied before neck; dotted border / ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ, forepart of lion leaping right; trident head right below, linear border. Le Rider 42-46. SNG ANS 8, 217. A rare denomination from Philip II and in remarkable condition.

If not for the incredible career of his son, Philip II of Macedon might today be known as "Philip the Great." Under his rule, Macedon transformed from a poor backwater to the most powerful state in the Greek world, setting the stage for Alexander's conquests. His coinage also set the pattern followed by his more famous son: The head of the young Heracles, beardless and wearing a headdress made from the skin of the Nemean lion, on this rare gold half-stater is the clear antecedent of the same type found on Alexander the Great's later silver coinage.

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