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Tetradrachm - Demetrius Poliorcetes
| Issuer | Kingdom of Macedonia |
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| Year | 301 BC - 295 BC |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Youthful bare head of Heracles facing right, rendered in fine Hellenistic style, wearing the scalp of the Nemean lion as a headdress, the lion's muzzle resting on the crown of the head and its paws knotted at the throat. The hair of Heracles flows in loose curls beneath the pelt, with strong facial features including a prominent brow, almond-shaped eye, and full lips characteristic of late 4th-century Macedonian die-cutting. The field is plain and unlettered. |
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| Reverse description | Zeus Aetophoros enthroned left on a backless stool-throne, his upper body nude and lower body draped, holding an eagle perched on his extended right hand and a long sceptre upright in his left hand. The reverse legend ΔHMHTPIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ (of King Demetrius) is distributed in two lines flanking the enthroned figure. In the left field, a ram's head facing left serves as a control symbol. The composition follows the Alexandrine reverse type established under Alexander III, adapted here for Demetrius Poliorcetes. |
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Demetrius Poliorcetes struck this issue following his victory at the Battle of Salamis in Cyprus in 306 BC, after which he and his father Antigonus I both proclaimed themselves kings — the first successors of Alexander to do so openly. The coinage belongs to the period when Demetrius controlled much of Greece and the Aegean, before his capture by Seleucus I in 285 BC ended his ambitions permanently.
Newell's classification of this type remains the foundational reference, with the Alpha Bank specimen (SNG #947) providing a well-documented parallel for die alignment and mint attribution.