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Tetradrachm - Demetrius I Poliorcetes Pella
| Issuer | Kingdom of Macedonia |
|---|---|
| Year | 290 BC - 289 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | Poseidon Pelagaios standing left in a heroic, contrapposto pose, his right foot raised and resting upon a rocky outcropping, his muscular nude body depicted with Hellenistic anatomical precision. The god holds a long trident upright in his left hand, while his right arm is extended and resting upon his raised knee. Monograms of the mint magistrate appear in the outer left and right fields, serving as control marks. The royal legend ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ — meaning 'of King Demetrios' — is inscribed along the upper and lower periphery of the reverse in bold Greek majuscule letters. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ |
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| Additional information |
Demetrius I earned his epithet "Poliorcetes" — the Besieger — through his siege of Rhodes from 305–304 BC, deploying the largest siege engines the ancient world had yet seen, including the nine-story Helepolis tower. The siege ultimately failed, and the Rhodians sold the abandoned war machinery to fund the Colossus. This tetradrachm was struck at Pella near the very end of his reign; he lost Macedonia entirely to Pyrrhus and Lysimachus in 288 BC, fleeing with a remnant army before surrendering to Seleucus I in 285 BC, where he drank himself to death in captivity.