MACEDON, Amphipolis
AE16. 4.04g, 16.0mm
MINTED: MACEDON, Amphipolis, after 148 BC
REF: HGC 3.1, 432 (S)
OBVERSE: Head of Strymon right, wreathed with reeds.
REVERSE: AMΦI / ΠOΛI, Trident, monogram to lower left and right.
 
Notes:
Red-brown patina, brassy at high points.  
 
Provenance:
Ex BCD Collection of Incerta (Naumann 70, lot 913, part of)
The BCD Collection was possibly the largest and most important private collection of Greek coinage ever assembled.  Over the course of five decades, the collector, known publicly by the initials BCD, acquired over 50,000 coins representing the major cities and regions of ancient Greece.  His numismatic scholarship and the comprehensiveness of his collection has led to the sale catalogues of his collection now being used as standard references for the regions they cover. 
Included also in BCD's vast collection were coins such as this one, publicly sold as his "Incerta" (Latin for uncertain or undecided), coins that he had acquired that ended up either outside his area of specialization, or that even he could not definitively attribute despite his expertise. 
 
Historical Notes:
Amphipolis was an ancient Macedonian city located on the Strymon River in northeastern Greece. It was originally founded in the 5th century BC by colonists from Athens. The city was later conquered by the Macedonian king Philip II in the 4th century BC. Amphipolis became an important strategic and commercial center under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. Some time after Alexander's death, his wife Roxana and their son Alexander IV were imprisoned at the citadel of Amphipolis and eventually murdered there in 311 BC. 
 
In 168 BC, the city was sacked by the Romans during their conquest of Macedonia. It was later rebuilt and remained an important city under Roman rule, serving as the capital of the First Meris (or district) of Macedonia. Amphipolis was eventually abandoned in the 7th century AD.