Alexander III AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, 330–320 BC, Herakles/Zeus

Alexander III (the Great), Tetradrachm, silver, reign 336–323 BC, struck at Babylon 330–320 BC; 17.12 g; 25 mm. Anepigraphic obverse with head of Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. Reverse: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a backless throne, eagle on outstretched right hand, sceptre in left; control marks in left field and beneath the throne. Struck on the Attic standard for the Macedonian Empire, on a broad flan and well centered with full portrait and legend. Price 2949.

Babylon, captured by Alexander in 331 BC, became a principal eastern mint supplying standardized Attic-weight silver that replaced Achaemenid issues in regional circulation. The Herakles portrait reflects the Argead dynastic claim, while the seated Zeus and royal legend assert the authority of “King Alexander.” Production at Babylon financed administration and armies across Mesopotamia and continued posthumously under the satraps and Diadochi, keeping Alexander’s name in use for decades.