The so-called "Porus medallions" — of which Price 3600 is the canonical type — were almost certainly struck at Babylon to commemorate Alexander's Indian campaign, specifically the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC against King Porus of the Pauravas. Whether they functioned as donatives distributed to senior officers or as diplomatic gifts remains debated; their sheer weight and the absence of any credible evidence of circulation suggests they were never intended as transactional currency.
Fewer than a hundred specimens are known across all collections worldwide. The Babylon mint attribution rests largely on style and on the hoard findspot evidence accumulated since the 19th century.
The so-called "Porus medallions" — of which Price 3600 is the canonical type — were almost certainly struck at Babylon to commemorate Alexander's Indian campaign, specifically the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC against King Porus of the Pauravas. Whether they functioned as donatives distributed to senior officers or as diplomatic gifts remains debated; their sheer weight and the absence of any credible evidence of circulation suggests they were never intended as transactional currency.
Fewer than a hundred specimens are known across all collections worldwide. The Babylon mint attribution rests largely on style and on the hoard findspot evidence accumulated since the 19th century.