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

Alexander III, Tetradrachm, silver, reign 336–323 BC, struck 330–320 BC, 17.10 g, 26 mm. Obverse: anepigraphic; head of Herakles right wearing the lion-skin headdress, border of dots. Reverse: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on stool-throne, eagle on outstretched right hand, sceptre in left; control M in left field, monogram beneath throne; Babylon mint. Struck on a broad flan, centered with complete legend; slight peripheral flatness. Price 3751–52.

Historical significance: Following the capture of Babylon in 331 BC, this mint became a major producer of Alexander’s imperial silver, converting Achaemenid bullion into a standardized currency for military pay and administration. The Herakles/Zeus type with the legend “of King Alexander” served as the dominant heavy silver coinage across the Near East and Mediterranean and continued posthumously under the Diadochi, establishing the monetary model of the Hellenistic world.