Alexander III AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, posthumous, 325–323 BC, Price 3726

Alexander III, Tetradrachm, silver, reign 336–323 BC; Babylon, 325–323 BC. 17.15 g, 27 mm. Obverse anepigraphic: 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 X in left field, monogram within wreath below throne; beaded border. Posthumous issue at Babylon on the Attic standard, struck on a broad flan with complete legend and types. Price 3726.

Issued at Babylon around the time of Alexander’s death, this posthumous tetradrachm represents the continuation of his imperial coinage used to pay garrisons and finance the opening struggles of the Diadochi. The Herakles portrait advertises Alexander’s claimed heroic lineage, while the legend “of King Alexander” maintained his authority as a monetary brand across the former Achaemenid Empire. Babylon served as a principal eastern mint, and its tetradrachms helped establish the Attic-weight silver standard that dominated Hellenistic commerce.