Alexander III AR Tetradrachm, Babylon, Posthumous, Herakles/Zeus Price 3746

Alexander III, Tetradrachm, Silver, 336–323 BC, 325–323 BC, 17.12 g, 26 mm. Babylon mint. Anepigraphic obverse with head of Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. Reverse BAΣIΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on backless stool-throne, eagle on extended right hand, sceptre in left; wreath in left field enclosing a control monogram; MI monogram beneath throne. Posthumous issue on the Attic standard, struck on a broad, well-centered flan with complete legend. Price 3746.

This Babylon tetradrachm belongs to the massive imperial series that financed Alexander’s army and, immediately after his death in 323 BC, sustained continuity of administration under the early Diadochi. The Herakles/Zeus types and the Attic-weight standard established a transregional currency that dominated eastern Mediterranean commerce for generations, with local control marks identifying specific Babylon workshops and officials.