Cassander, 305-297 BC, Tetradrachm

Cassander, Tetradrachm, AR, 305–297 BC, 16.96 g, 26 mm. Amphipolis mint, struck in the name of Alexander III. Obverse: head of beardless Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress tied at the neck. Reverse: AΛEΞANΔPOY; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a backless throne, holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left; legend typically to right. Struck on the Attic weight standard at Amphipolis during Cassander’s reign. Reference: Price 458.

Historical significance: After consolidating power in Macedon, Cassander continued the widely recognized Alexander coinage at Amphipolis to maintain monetary continuity and broad acceptability across the Aegean world. The Herakles/Zeus type in Alexander’s name, produced on the Attic standard, served the fiscal and military needs of the Diadochi period while projecting political legitimacy through association with Alexander III; Amphipolis functioned as a principal Macedonian mint for these posthumous issues.