Alexander III AR Tetradrachm Amphipolis Rare Lifetime Issue Price 78

Alexander III, Tetradrachm, Silver, reign 336–323 BC; Amphipolis mint, struck 336–323 BC; 17.15 g; 26 mm. Obverse anepigraphic: head of beardless Heracles right wearing the lion-skin headdress tied at the neck. Reverse: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ vertical to right; Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on a backless throne, holding eagle on outstretched right hand and sceptre in left; beaded border. Struck on the Attic standard at Amphipolis during the Macedonian Empire; rare issue. Price 78.

Amphipolis served as the principal royal mint of Macedonia at the start of Alexander’s reign, producing the silver tetradrachms that funded the army during the campaigns in Asia. The obverse associates the ruler with Heracles, a dynastic hero of the Argeads, while the reverse presents Zeus as guarantor of royal authority; the legend “of Alexander” affirms state ownership of the coinage. This lifetime Amphipolis series helped establish the tetradrachm as the dominant international currency of the Hellenistic world and continued to be imitated long after Alexander’s death.