ANTIGONUS II SILVER TETRADRACHM – PAN SHIELD AND ATHENA ISSUE PUBLISHED IN PANAGOPOULOU AND EX NFA 1987 – XF NGC GRADED GREEK MACEDONIAN KINGDOM COIN (Inv. 19349)

RESERVED

19349. MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. ANTIGONUS II GONATAS, 277–239 BC.
Silver Tetradrachm, 17.07g, 31 mm. Issue of Amphipolis, ca. 271/5–260 BC.
Obv. Macedonian shield with bust of Pan in the center, lagobolon over his shoulder, stellate designs within double crescents around border. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIΓONOY, Athena Alcidemos brandishing shield and thunderbolt left, helmet in lower left field, ΗΛ control monogram in lower right field.
Panagopoulou, Early Antigonids, Period I, p.65, no. 146b (O8/R138, this coin cited); HGC 3, 1042.
Ex Private American collection (JTB), Triton XXVII, 1/9/2024, lot 164 = Triton XXVI, 1/10/2023, lot 131 = purchased from CNG inventory 926177 (May 2012) and previously in the Sukenik collection = Heritage CICF Signature Sale 3019, 4/26/2012, lot 23085 (“Mayflower Collection”) and acquired from Numismatic Fine Arts in 1987.
NGC graded XF, Strike 5/5, Surface 4/5, publication data noted on label, with various sale tickets.

The standard Macedonian shield (aspis in Greek) depicted on coins of the Hellenistic period and later is a circular defensive weapon with a varying central pictorial device surrounded by a series of crescents and stars along the edge. Shields such as this are also known from Macedonian funerary art, usually with a central star or sun burst, and are often considered to be the shields carried by hypaspists (literally “shield–bearers”)—an elite element of the Macedonian phalanx whose members often served as bodyguards to the king. As such, already in the fourth century BC, these shields were taking on the character of a Macedonian ethnic symbol.

The shield became very prominent on Macedonian coinage during the second reign of Antigonus II Gonatas as Macedonian king (272–239 BC), when it was featured as the regular obverse type for his silver tetradrachms. The image of Pan placed in the center of the shield refers to a spectacular victory over the Galatians that won him the kingship for the first time in 277 BC. The god was said to have appeared during the fighting creating panic among the Galatians, thereby allowing Antigonus to win the day. The shield featuring Pan became the standard type for the tetradrachms of the Macedonian Antigonid dynasty down to the reign of Philip V (221–179 BC), who replaced Pan with a depiction of the hero Perseus. The reverse type of Antigonus’ Pan shield coinage features Athena Alcidemos, a goddess of specific importance to the Macedonian kingdom. Her cult was centered on the city of Pella, which served as the capital of the Antigonid kings of Macedon.