Birthday wishes

Dear Alexander, 

Wouldn’t it be great if this year you received a gold medallion for your birthday like those made by Roman admirers some five hundred years after your death? The “Alexander cult” was still very much alive at that time when able craftsmen created such marvelous works of art. 

This gem was part of the Abukir Medallions made in Roman times between 215 and 243 AD. The obverse shows your familiar effigy with ram’s horns looking slightly upwards. The reverse displays this splendid Nike in full action as she holds the reins of the quadriga in one hand and a palm branch and a headband in the other. For the unbelievers, there is an inscription that reads ΒΑCΙΛ-ΕωC /ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ – in other words, Basileus Alexandrou. With a diameter of 5.4 cm, it weighs nearly 113 grams. Isn’t this medallion genuinely worthy of you and your accomplishments? 

How many more medallions and remembrance coins must have been issued by you to underscore the merit of your men! How many must have been distributed by your successors and by famous and less famous admirers! Sadly, so many have been lost in time. 

With gratitude for the immense heritage, you left us,

Argyraspid and the crowd of Philalexandros from all over the world.

This Abukir Medallion was part of a stash of 20 medallions, 600 gold coins, and about 20 stamped gold ingots discovered by chance in Egypt in 1902. Shortly after their discovery, they were presented to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris and the British Museum in London. It is hard to believe that both institutions refused to buy the medallions. Their excuse was that they doubted their provenance and authenticity. 

In the end, the medallions were offered to the Staatliche Museen (Berlin State Museum) in Berlin, which purchased five of them after being able to establish that they were genuine. The remainder was sold to private collectors around the world. In 1949, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon acquired three medallions from James Loeb and another eight from the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum in New York. Alexander is represented on seven of these gold pieces, and his mother Olympias on another two. One medallion depicted Emperor Caracalla, a great admirer of Alexander who tried to emulate him (as if he could!)