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Drachm In the name of Alexander III
| Issuer | Kingdom of Macedonia |
|---|---|
| Year | 310 BC - 275 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.9 g |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Herakles facing right, wearing the Nemean lion skin headdress, the scalp covering the crown with the beast's jaws framing the hero's face and its forepaws knotted at the throat. The portrait displays finely modelled, idealized features consistent with the Lysippan tradition, with curling locks visible beneath the headdress. A beaded border runs along the coin's edge. The type conventionally serves as a heroic portrait of Alexander III, assimilated to Herakles. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Zeus Aëtophoros enthroned left on a high-backed throne, his body in three-quarter view; he holds an eagle perched on his outstretched right hand and a long vertical scepter in his left. An aplustre (aphlaston) appears as a symbol in the left field. The legend ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ runs along the right field, identifying the coin as struck in the name of Alexander. The composition follows the canonical reverse type established under Alexander III and continued by his successors. |
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| Additional information |
Struck posthumously in the name of Alexander III decades after his death in 323 BC, this issue originates from a period when his successors — the Diadochi — continued exploiting his image and monetary standard as a legitimizing tool during their violent partition of his empire. Price 862 and 862A are attributed to Colophon, one of several western Anatolian mints that kept producing Alexandrine coinage well into the early third century, long after the man himself had become myth.
The specific die pairing distinguishes 862A as a variant within the series — subtle enough that misattribution between the two is routine without direct reference to Price's plates.