Ptolemy I Soter AR Tetradrachm, Byblos, 305–282 BC, Alexander type

Ptolemy I Soter, tetradrachm, silver, reign 305–282 BC; struck 305–282 BC, 17.10 g, 26 mm. Byblos, Phoenicia. Anepigraphic obverse with head of Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. Reverse: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ downward at right; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a stool‑throne, eagle on outstretched right hand, sceptre in left; control A in left field. Struck on the Attic standard at Byblos under the Ptolemaic Kingdom, in the name of Alexander III; centered strike on a broad flan with full devices. Ref: Price 3424.

This Alexander‑type tetradrachm reflects Ptolemy I’s early monetary policy of issuing coinage in Alexander’s name to maintain continuity and wide acceptability during the Wars of the Diadochi. Byblos, a key Phoenician port and shipbuilding center, served Ptolemy’s strategy to secure the Levantine coast and support naval operations. The Herakles/Zeus iconography and Attic weight standard facilitated circulation across the eastern Mediterranean before Ptolemy adopted coinage bearing his own name and portrait.