Alexander III AR tetradrachm, Byblos, 330–320 BC, Zeus Aetophoros

Alexander III (the Great), tetradrachm, silver, reign 336–323 BC; struck 330–320 BC at Byblos. 17.20 g; 26 mm. Obv: Anepigraphic; head of beardless Heracles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress tied at the neck; border of dots. Rev: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ vertically to right; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a backless stool-throne with footstool, holding eagle on outstretched right hand and long sceptre in left; dotted border. Struck on a broad Attic-standard flan with complete legend and borders; centrally aligned strike with full principal devices. Ref: Price 3426.

Following the Macedonian capture of Phoenicia, Byblos was organized to strike Attic-standard silver for Alexander’s administration and army payments. The Heracles portrait promoted the Argead claim of heroic descent, while the seated Zeus with eagle became the canonical imperial type continued posthumously by the Diadochi. Issues of 330–320 BC fall within the late lifetime to early posthumous phase and circulated widely across the eastern Mediterranean, documenting the integration of Phoenician mints into a unified Macedonian monetary system.