Alexander III AR Drachm 4.20g Herakles/Zeus, uncertain mint 336–323 BC

Alexander III, drachm, silver, reign 336–323 BC, 4.20 g, 17 mm, uncertain mint.

Anepigraphic obverse with head of beardless Herakles right, wearing the lion-skin headdress tied at the neck. Reverse ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ; Zeus seated left on a backless stool-throne, holding eagle on outstretched right hand and sceptre in left; any control marks indistinct. Struck on a compact flan, reverse slightly off centre; extensive circulation wear and granular surfaces; mint controls not legible, rendering the mint attribution uncertain and the issue possibly lifetime or early posthumous. For the general drachm type see Price, Coinage in the Name of Alexander the Great; SNG Copenhagen (Alexander); Sear Greek Coins II (Alexander drachm series). Historical significance: Silver in the name of Alexander III formed the principal international currency of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East on the Attic standard. The consistent Herakles/Zeus design and the legend ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ unified issues from numerous mints established during and immediately after his campaigns. These coins financed armies and administration and continued under the Successors for decades, illustrating the scale and durability of Macedonian monetary organization.