Object Description
A striking Ancient Greek, Hellenistic, silver tetradrachm, struck under Philip III Arrhidaios, under Philotas or Philoxenos, in the name and types of Alexander the Great. The obverse features the head of Alexander the Great as a young Herakles, portrayed in profile, wearing a lion’s skin headdress. His facial features, including his long nose, eye, closed lips, as well as the head and mane of the lion, have been rendered naturalistically with care. The reverse displays the Greek god Zeus seated left on a throne, with ornamented legs. He is depicted nude from the waist up, with drapery covering his slightly splayed legs. The god holds an eagle in his outstretched right hand, which faces right, towards him. In his left hand, he holds a sceptre, represented as a long, dotted line. A wreath is featured in the left field, and a ΔI monogram under the throne. In the right field, parallel to the sceptre, is the legend AΛEΞANΔΡOY, and BAΣIΛEΩΣ under the throne meaning ‘of King Alexander.’ The images on both the obverse and reverse of the coin are encircled by a border of small dots. This coin was minted in an uncertain mint in Cilicia, possibly Side.
Date: Circa 323-317 BC