★ A rare tetradrachm of the enigmatic Skostokos ★

KINGS OF THRACE. Lysimachos, 305-281 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 17.18 g, 9 h), struck under Skostokos. Uncertain mint in inland Thrace, circa 285-281 BC. Diademed head of Alexander the Great to right with horn of Ammon over his ear. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ - ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ / ΣKOΣTOKOY Athena seated left, holding Nike, crowning the king's name, in her right hand and leaning with her left arm on shield decorated with lion's head; behind, transverse spear; in inner left field, cult pillar. Fischer-Bossert, Skostokos, 17 (V5/R14). HGC 3.2, 1471. Peykov C3100. SNG Copenhagen 1171. Rare. An attractive example of this historically interesting issue. Struck from slightly worn dies, otherwise, extremely fine.

From a Bavarian collection, formed in the early 2000s.

The tetradrachms of Skostokos were traditionally assigned to the tumultuous early years following the downfall of Lysimachos and the murder of Seleukos I in 281 BC. However, Fischer-Bossert argued that the unusual appearance of the name Skostokos in the exergue indicates that this dynast, who also struck a small series of bronze coins, may in fact have been a subordinate to Alexander's general rather than one of his successors. Stylistic comparisons between Lysimachos' late coinage from Amphipolis and the issues naming Skostokos, with which at least one reverse die also shares a monogram, further reinforces the scholar's arguments. Skostokos may thus have been a local dynast or officer of Thracian or Celtic origin, who perhaps served as Lysimachos' strategos in Thrace while the king was occupied abroad in his wars against Pyrrhos of Epeiros and Seleukos I.

If this is true, the tetradrachms of Lysimachos with the name of Skostokos in the exergue were likely struck to pay the local troops that were required to keep Thrace safe from rebellious local tribes and foreign intruders. What happened to Skostokos in the wake of Lysimachos' death in the Battle of Kurupedion and the murder of Seleukos I in Lysimacheia in 281 BC is unclear: if he succeeded in setting up his own realm, it cannot have been for long, as he left no traces in history other than his rare and enigmatic coinage.