Alexander III, 336-323 BC, Lifetime issue, Tetradrachm

Alexander III “the Great”, tetradrachm, AR, lifetime issue (336–323 BC), Akre or Tyre, under Azemilkos, circa 332–323 BC, 16.55 g, 26 mm. Obverse with the head of Herakles right, wearing the Nemean lion-skin headdress. Reverse with Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a throne, holding eagle and sceptre; AΛEΞANΔPOY to right; control marks of the Phoenician coastal series. Struck in high relief on a broad flan. Reference: Price 3281.

Alexander’s tetradrachms were the principal silver denomination of the Macedonian imperial currency and were produced in large quantities at major mints across the eastern Mediterranean after his conquest of the Persian Empire. The Herakles and Zeus types presented dynastic and pan-Hellenic imagery and remained in wide circulation for generations, with Phoenician issues associated with the reorganization of the Levantine cities under Macedonian rule and the integration of their bullion into Alexander’s monetary system.