Ancient Coin Stories

This is an interesting coin as it could have been minted by several people, simultaneously.

I bought it to encompass Perdikkas, since it was minted around the time he was assassinated in Tyre, which should have been within his control since his forces had gone through there on the way to Egypt to attack Ptolemy. Was it minted before or after his death? That’s difficult to know.

The second person is Menes, who served under Alexander the Great and was eventually promoted to one of his bodyguards. Alexander sent Menes to manage Coele Syria, which was roughly a good portion of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. We don’t know how long he actually governed the area, though. Was he still managing the area that included Tyre when this coin was minted? We don’t know.

Next up is Azemilkos. The coin is actually numbered according to his reign as year 29. Azemilkos, of course, headed Tyre during Alexander‘s famous siege. Nevertheless, Alexander was lenient and supposedly left him in charge, though under Menes. Still, was Azemilkos still running Tyre at this time, or were they simply too bored to change the numbering?

Finally, there is also history indicating that Laomedon was given the governage of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia after the Treaty of Triparidisus. Did he replace Menes? Laomedon himself was chased out by Antigonos in 320 BCE, so he wasn’t in charge long. Was this coin minted when he was in charge?

For now, I have it under both Menes and Perdikkas.