Alexander III the Great AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, 330-320 BC, Herakles/Zeus

Alexander III, tetradrachm, silver, reign 336–323 BC, struck at Babylon 330–320 BC, 17.15 g, 26 mm. Anepigraphic obverse with head of Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. Reverse inscribed BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus seated left on a stool-throne, eagle on outstretched right hand, sceptre in left. Struck on a broad flan with slight peripheral flatness; reverse legend largely complete. Control marks/second monogram beneath the throne not visible, leaving a precise Price attribution unresolved; compare Price Babylon series c. 3598–3620.

Captured at Gaugamela in 331 BC, Babylon became a principal royal mint for Alexander’s empire. The tetradrachms from this workshop financed the army and administration across the Near East and fixed the standard Hellenistic silver type: Herakles in the lion skin and Zeus enthroned with eagle. Issues of c. 330–320 BC continued through the early Successor period, and their varied monograms record changes in local officials; loss of the secondary mark on this piece prevents finer classification but places it within that major Babylon series.