MACEDON. Macedonian Tribes. The Derrones. AR Dodekadrachm (34.94 gms), ca. 480-465 B.C. NGC EF, Strike: 3/5 Surface: 3/5. Horn Silver.Topalov-9 var. (no symbol below ox); Traité-I 1448 var. (same); SNG ANS-Unlisted; SNG Cop-Unlisted; SNG Dewing-1015 var. (palmette not aphlaston); Triton-XI, lot 101 (same dies); HGC-3.1, 279. Obverse: Driver, holding goad, driving ox cart left; above, crested Corinthian helmet right; aphlaston below; Reverse: Triskeles. Despite its strike designation, the present piece is a rather strong example of this strongRARE/strong, generally poorly-produced, large denomination that equated to 12 Drachms. Well centered on toned flan, with a minor edge crack and some horn silver.While the precise location of the Derrones has been a source of much debate, current scholarship tends to see them as an inland tribe of Paeonia, north of Macedonia. The source of their silver may well have been the rich mine near Lake Prasias, which, according to Herodotus, was subsequently taken over by Alexander I of Macedon. It seems likely that the Derrones roughly coined the silver they mined for export. If this is true, the greatly variable weights for this series is puzzling. "Dodekadrachms" can be anywhere from slightly over 30 to nearly 40 grams. It has been argued that this merely indicates the lack of sophistication or ineptitude of the Derrones. In any case, this imprecision would seem to negate whatever value coining the silver would have served in the first place. Perhaps different weight standards were employed by the Derrones depending upon the requirements of the intended recipient. While this might suggest an unrealistic complexity for the time period or geographical location, we frequently err in underestimating the sophistication, or at the very least shrewdness, of the ancients. As noted below, Thracian and Thraco-Macedonian silver was part of an involved trading pattern in which the silver was conveyed by Ionian and island traders to Egypt in exchange for grain and, undoubtedly, other commodities.Ex: Lawrence R. Stack Collection (Stacks - 1/2008) Lot # 2140.
