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Tetradrachm - Demetrius Poliorcetes Tyre
| Issuer | Kingdom of Macedonia |
|---|---|
| Year | 290 BC - 287 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Youthful head of Herakles facing right, rendered in high relief with fine engraving characteristic of early Hellenistic die-cutting. The hero is depicted wearing the scalp of the Nemean lion as a headdress, with the beast's muzzle visible over the forehead and the paws knotted at the throat. The facial features are idealized yet vigorous, with deeply set eyes, a straight nose, and slightly parted lips, framed by thick, curling locks of hair escaping beneath the lion skin. The portrait fills the flan with commanding presence, with minimal field visible around the bust. |
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| Reverse description | Zeus Aëtophoros enthroned to the left upon a low throne, his figure rendered in the classical Hellenistic manner. In his extended right hand he holds an eagle facing outward, while his left hand grasps a long sceptre. The two-line legend ΔHMHTPIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ ('of King Demetrios') is inscribed in the field. In the left field, a dolphin enclosed within a circle serves as a mint control symbol identifying the Tyre mint, and the letter alpha (A) appears beneath the throne as a secondary control mark. |
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| Additional information |
Demetrius Poliorcetes struck coinage at Tyre following his seizure of the city around 294 BC, integrating the Phoenician mint into his broader effort to finance a sprawling, perpetually overstretched military machine. Newell 31 belongs to a tightly sequenced emission from the final years of his reign — issued while he was losing ground across Greece and Asia Minor to Pyrrhus and Lysimachus simultaneously.
He surrendered to Seleucus I in 285 BC and died in captivity two years later. The Tyre mint ceased producing in his name shortly before the collapse.