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Hey all, just found this at a greek news site.

Proffessor Osmund Bopearachchi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmund_Bopearachchi

found this medal

http://news.in.gr/culture/article/?aid=1231308589

and considers it to be the only one that was created while Alexander was still alive in order for his victory at Gaugamela to be properly celebrated.

Please note that the link is in greek so translate it if you have to. It is a very interesting artcile. In fact the medal was found in a pile of 550.000 coins and it being original is still an issue among researchers. Bopearachchi however has credible historians on his side who vouch for the medal's authenticity.

Very interesting indeed, but it seems to me the battle celebrated by this coin was the one of Idaspes (as told in the link you posted here), not the one of Gaugamela. As told in the post, the elephant is a symbol of India, even if there were elephants in the battle of Gaugamela too. By the way I would like to now why the said professor is certain this is the only definite portrait of Alexander during his life (only in coins or in all cases?). Thank you for posting it!

Am I right in thinking that these Indian 'coins' are not coins but medallions of some sort? I have some recollection that Alexander issued these to commemorate the Indian exhibition.

I expect you are thinking of the silver 'Porus' medallions showing Alexander on horseback pursuing Porus on his elephant on one side ( which inspired the scene in Stone's movie) and a standing Alexander on the other, of which there were several slightly different issues.

Experts are divided as to whether these are medallions, or tetradrachm coins, because they are quite large and heavy at 32 -40 grams.

Whilst images of these have appeared on Pothos before, for convenience I include some here. Note that Alexander wears a plumed Phrygian helmet, of similar type to that found in Philip's tomb.

The gold coin shown by System88 is of more typical type, with a bust on the face of the coin....a pity its size and weight are not given.

The incredible thing is that this is just one of 550,000 ( yes that's right, Neither System 88 above nor I have typed a couple of extra zeros by mistake ! ) or more coins dating from 5 c BC- 2 c AD ( pre Alexander to Imperial Roman times), and the hoard also contained other gold and silver items, and weighed over 4 tonnes !!!!! This makes it the largest treasure hoard ever found and apparently there may be more ! Just astonishing !

The coin above is normally called a dekadrachm or a five shekel piece; it was issued as part of a series with these tetradrachms
This issue may have been struck by the army itself over Indian coins, the engraving is somewhat rough on the lower denominations it was originally quite an extensive issue; there are die linkages in three of the five extant dekadrachms which imply that at least three obverse dies were used (I think they were good for 30,000 coins each); it may be that the pieces were distributed throughout the army possibly as the 'ephoras tagmatikos' of Diodoros XVII 94 iv.

agesilaos wrote:... it may be that the pieces were distributed throughout the army possibly as the 'ephoras tagmatikos' of Diodoros XVII 94 iv.

Possibly. Then again, let's not expose that term to yet another flight of linguistic fantasy.

Ah memories...we have discussed the gold coin too; I know I was for fraudulence and certainly no lifetime attrubution, but others were for it, including the bod to whom you allude, cannot remember which thread it was though.

Agesilaos wrote:

The coin above is normally called a dekadrachm or a five shekel piece; it was issued as part of a series with these tetradrachms

The detailed information, and the type of coin and the fact that it was part of a series are all most interesting to learn. I was never able to glean more than I posted, even from detailed numismatic sources. However, I was always sceptical of the 'commemorative medallion' explanation.

Whence came this eminently more plausible information ? A detailed book on Macedonian/Hellenistic coinage perhaps?

Do I take it from your comments that previous examples of this gold coin type have emerged?

I believe so. That and ἐπιφορὰς ταγματικὰς. Cannot remember the thread for the coins though.

The details and much more came from Frank Holt's excellent 'Alexander and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions', 2005, California University Press, he examines all preceding theories, discusses provenance, historical contexts the lot and in a style which is at once accessible and intelligent.

" The Alexander Medallion.Exploring the origins of a unique artefact" Published after the international roundtable that took place in Paris on 26 March 2007.
Contents
Foreword john Boardan
Preface F.Holt and Osmund Bopearachi
Authentity:F.Holt
A joy and curse :Osmoud Bopearachi
Doubt and doubters:Andrew Steward
The origin of the gold:Maryse Blet-Lemarquand
The search for truth:Philippe Flandrin
I had the opportunity to see the book( present from the professor Bopearachi ) today , in the library of the Numismatic Museum of Athens.
PHOTOS OFTHE 550.000 COINS .AMAZING!!!( all around the tresor, afghan tribal chiefs) Also the other side of the medallion ( a magnificent elephant )Photos of the lake etc.
As soon as possibly I will post some of them.
Best regards

I append a link for a review of the book System 1988 mentions, it is quite revealing and the conclusion is inescapable.

https://www.academia.edu/2101972/The_Al ... e_Artifact

Very difficult to disagree with.

More and more intriguing !

The "4 tonnes" and "550,000 coins" turn out be mere unsubstantiated rumour, rather than established fact, and the actual number of coins in this hoard has not been established as exceeding 20,000 or less. Moreover this hoard may or may not have been found in a well at the village of Mir Zakah, and may not even be a single hoard.Still, even a hoard of slightly less than 20,000 is quite an impressive treasure.

The gold coin/medallion in question is not, apparently, definitely associated with the Mir Zakah hoard and does not in fact have any archaeological provenance, and it turns out there is a very strong possibility that it is one of the many forgeries which are common in the numismatic world !

http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/IamSy ... t=3&page=1

This is a link of some photos (not well taken, and not all of them) from the book. Agesilaos' review was very informative and of course, the authenticity of the medal is still on debate and in the question. The fact still remains; we still don't have an archaeological context based on which we could identify the medal.

But the bags of coins are a sight one only goes through once in his/her life...