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Stater - Lysimachus
| Issuer | Kings of Thrace |
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| Year | 297 BC - 281 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Diademed head of the deified Alexander the Great facing right, rendered in fine Hellenistic style with characteristically flowing, tousled hair and the small curving horn of Ammon emerging just above the ear, conferring divine status upon the portrait. The effigy displays the idealized physiognomy associated with Alexander iconography, with a strong profile, slightly parted lips, and a smooth, youthful countenance. The diadem is rendered as a plain fillet binding the hair above the forehead. The portrait fills the flan with commanding presence, set against a plain field with no surrounding legend. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Lysimachus struck these gold staters not as straightforward royal coinage but as a deliberate political maneuver — by placing the deified Alexander's head on the obverse and Athena on the reverse, he aligned himself with the Macedonian succession while technically honoring a dead king rather than himself. The gambit worked diplomatically but not militarily. He died at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC, fighting Seleucus I, making the final issues of this type among the last coins authorized before Thrace lost its independence as a coherent kingdom.
Posthumous issues continued under various successors, so provenance and die-study matter here. Müller's catalog remains the foundational reference for attribution, though SNG Copenhagen 1084 provides a useful comparative specimen.