Seleukos I Nikator, 311-300 BC, Tetradrachm

Seleukos I Nikator, tetradrachm, AR, 311–300 BC, Babylon mint, 17.21 g, 28 mm. Obverse with head of Herakles right, wearing lion-skin headdress. Reverse with Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on throne, holding eagle and scepter; legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPoY. Light graffito in the reverse field in the form of a swastika. Well-centered strike with clear legend and principal devices; minor surface marks consistent with circulation. Price 3704.

Struck at Babylon in the early years of Seleukos I’s control of the eastern satrapies, this tetradrachm belongs to the extensive posthumous coinage produced in the name of Alexander III to maintain monetary continuity across the former empire. Such issues illustrate the political utility of Alexander’s types and titulature for the Diadochoi, while reflecting the importance of Babylon as a major administrative and minting center during the formative period of Seleukid power.