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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Babylon, Satrapy of |
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| Year | 328 BC - 311 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Baaltars, the Phoenician storm deity, seated left upon a throne with his torso shown three-quarter facing; he holds a short scepter in his raised right hand, while his left hand rests upon the throne seat. The letter M appears in the left field. The figure is rendered in the Achaemenid artistic tradition, combining eastern iconography with Greek stylistic influences. |
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| Reverse description | A powerful lion strides left across a ground line, its mane rendered in fine detail with the head raised in profile, conveying strength and authority — a traditional symbol of Babylonian royal power. A monogram, appearing as a combined MN or similar ligature, is positioned in the upper field above the lion's back. The Greek letter Gamma (Γ) appears in the exergue below the ground line, serving as a control mark. The design is enclosed within a beaded border and executed in high relief characteristic of Babylonian satrapal coinage. |
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| Additional information |
Babylon's silver tetradrachms from this period were struck under Macedonian authority following Alexander's conquest in 331 BC, with the mint operating under successive administrators — first Macedonian-appointed satraps, then, after Alexander's death in 323 BC, the warring successors whose infighting defines the early Diadochi period. The Sunrise 161 type belongs to a sequence closely studied for die linkages that help historians reconstruct the administrative transitions at the mint itself.
Alexander died in Babylon in June 323 BC, making this mint uniquely significant among all Macedonian issues — the city was both the empire's intended capital and the site of its dissolution.