Philip II (359-336 BC) was the first Macedonian king to mint golden staters. He used them as gifts and means of propaganda for foreign diplomats, and for the pay of his mercenaries. With the help of these mercenaries – among them many Celtic warriors from today's German speaking parts of the world – Philip made Macedon the most significant power in Greece and himself Hegemon (leader) of the Greek World.
Philip's coins spread over the whole then known world and were repeatedly copied. This piece was struck in Abydos, a little city on the coast of Asia Minor, some twenty years after his death. The obverse shows the god Apollo and the reverse a racing chariot driven by Nike, the goddess of victory.