The Gold of Alexander "The Great", 336-323 BC

Over the past several years, I have fallen in love with Ancient rare coins. Thanks to the grading service, Numismatic Guarantee Corporation (NGC) investor/collectors now have the ability to buy Ancient Greek and Roman coins, among other historic coins graded and certified by Ancient Numismatic Experts.

One of my favorite Ancient coins is the Greek Stater. A Stater is a small gold coin minted throughout the Ancient Greek Empire. Stater roughly translates into soldier. Staters were most commonly used to pay soldiers either their monthly wages or as bounty after a battle.

Often the Greek army's commanders would have to lug huge amounts of these Staters to battlefields and bury them before a battle in a secret location. This way, if they won the battle commanders could quickly have the gold dug up and distributed to surviving soldiers immediately. Paying your soldiers quickly back then was needed to make sure the army's back then remained happy and loyal. If they lost the battle, the buried and hidden gold would not fall into the hands of the losing army's enemies.

The Staters I like the most are those of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was formally known as "Alexander III": Alexandros III Philippou Makedonon (Alexander III of Macedon) and he lived from 356-323 BC. He was King of Macedonia, and was born in late July 356 BC in Pella, Macedonia. Historians almost unanimously consider Alexander the Great one of the greatest military geniuses in history.

He conquered much of what was then the civilized world, driven by his divine ambition of the world conquest and the creation of a universal world monarchy. These ancient Greek Staters were struck both during his reign and for many years after his death and is one of the highest denominations of gold coins minted back over 2300 years ago.

Alexander the Great was trained from birth to become a great General and King but he also studied Philosophy and History under one of the greatest minds in human history Aristotle. Assuming the throne at the young age of 20 he set out on a historic expedition to conquer most of the known world. During his brief reign of 13 years, he succeeded in defeating every empire that stood in his way.

The secret of his success was his willingness to show mercy on those armies and empires he defeated. He would routinely mark captured enemy combatants by scarring them with an identifying mark. If a captured soldier either joined his army after being defeated or went back to an agrarian, labor or merchant life and never took up arms against Alexander and his armies, he would be allowed to live and enjoy all the rights of being a full citizen of Alexander's growing empire.

Alexander Staters are most commonly found in circulated, very fine condition and are very hard to find in Choice Almost Uncirculated Condition. While many Ancient dealers describe the coins they sell as being in Mint State condition, the truth is very few are actually uncirculated.

Choice Almost Uncirculated Life Time issues of Alexander the Great Staters are generally worth between $9,500 and $15,000 depending on the mint. Posthumous coins, Staters struck after his death, can trade for $7,500 to $12,500. Make no mistake about it; Choice Almost Uncirculated Staters are rare.

Uncirculated, truly mint state Alexander the Great Staters are REALLY rare regardless of whether they were struck during Alexander's lifetime or posthumously. NGC graded and certified coins can trade between $12,500 and $22,500, again depending on the mint. Truly Choice Uncirculated "CH MS" coins of both types trade for as much as $32,500. One coin offered to me by a past Vice President of the well regarded PNG had what he believed to be the first coin graded Choice Uncirculated and was asking $37,500 for it. I've never seen a Gem Uncirculated example and suspect if one existed and went to auction, it would bring $55,000 to $75,000.

I consider Alexander the Great Gold Staters and those of his brother Phillip III to be one of the most undervalued rare coins on the market in Choice Almost Uncirculated Condition through Gem Uncirculated condition.

There are a few dealers around the world that agree with my view of these coins, but the vast majority of Ancient dealers will not agree. Most Ancient rare coin dealers just don't recognize or even comprehend the extremely strict grading standards applied to U.S. coins. As a result most Ancient rare coin dealers look at NGC grading as if it's from another planet. Guess what? It was the same story when PCGS began grading U.S. rare coins back in 1986 and the same story when PCGS and NGC both started grading foreign coins.

I suspect that within the next several years more and more Ancient dealers will start to catch on and understand what is actually mint state and what is circulated. At that time I expect Choice almost Uncirculated Alexander the Great and Phillip III Staters as well as all Choice and Gem Roman and Greek gold coins to jump 100%, 200% even 1000% in value. Much in the same way rare Russian and Chinese coins have jumped in value from 1991 through 2011.

I try to keep a few of these Alexander the Great and Phillip III Staters in Finest Known's inventory at all times, but it's becoming harder and harder.

Imagine owning a rare coin that's over 2300 years old in Choice almost Uncirculated to Gem Uncirculated condition. The people who make the most money in the rare coin market are the ones who become collector/investors. They learn everything they can about the rare coins they add to their collections and portfolios and build collections that can only be considered among the finest quality.

Take a look through our Finest Known inventory for the availability of these Alexander the Great and Phillip III Staters. I recommend these coins strongly. I promise holding one in your hands will be a thrill of a lifetime.

James DiGeorgia

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