Kings of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great'. AR Tetradrachm,336-323 BC. Babylon.

Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin.

Rev: AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟY. Zeus seated left on throne, holding eagle and sceptre. Trident and M in left field, monogram below throne.

17,2gr

Excellent strong portrait, countermark with dots in circular incuse on cheak.

A truly monumental piece, struck from dies of remarkable style on a broad, weighty flan in sculptural high relief, and pleasantly toned.

High reliefs on both,portrait of Alexander and Zeus on throne that almost look alive.

The son of the brutal but capable King Philip II of Macedon, Alexander came to the throne upon his father's assassination in 336 BC and immediately launched into a career of conquest that took him to the very ends of the known world. Using the invincible army his father had assembled and trained, Alexander attacked the gigantic Persian Empire and defeated its king, Darius II, in three titanic battles between 335 and 332 BC. Unsatisfied with simply plundering the Persian realm and returning to Macedon, Alexander spent the next eight years driving his army steadily eastward, into the deserts of Arabia, the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, and the jungles of India, founding new cities in his wake. A true visionary, he sought a fusion of cultures and peoples, exhorting his soldiers to take wives from the local native populations and adopt Persian and Indian modes of dress. Alexander's conquests "liberated" tons of gold and silver that had been locked away for centuries in the Great King's treasuries in Sardes, Susa, Persepolis and Babylon. Mint masters soon set to work turning this huge haul into coins, which were paid out to Alexander's soldiers and high officials in staggering quantities