Alexander III Lifetime AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, 325–323 BC

Alexander III, Tetradrachm, silver, reign 336–323 BC, struck 325–323 BC at Babylon; 17.10 g, 26 mm. Anepigraphic obverse with head of Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress, dotted border. Reverse BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a backless throne, holding eagle on outstretched right hand and sceptre in left; star in left field, monogram beneath throne, dotted border. Struck on the Attic standard at the royal mint of Babylon during Alexander’s lifetime, with centered types and clear control marks characteristic of the issue. Reference: Price 3673.

Struck at Babylon near the end of Alexander’s reign, this tetradrachm belongs to the main imperial silver series used to fund military operations and administration across the Near East. Babylon served as a primary treasury and mint after the collapse of Achaemenid rule, and its issues circulated widely from Mesopotamia to the Aegean. The Herakles/Zeus design became the standard Hellenistic silver type, retained by successor dynasties, while the legend “of King Alexander” affirms centralized royal authority over the expanding monetary system.