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Tetradrachm In the name of Alexander III, HPAKΛEOY, Odessos
| Issuer | Odessos |
|---|---|
| Year | 125 BC - 70 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm |
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| Obverse description | Head of the deified Herakles facing right, wearing the Nemean lion's scalp headdress, the lion's jaw and mane rendered in bold, deeply cut relief with flowing curls. The facial features display the idealized Lysippan prototype characteristic of the Alexandrine coinage tradition, with a strong brow, prominent nose, and slightly parted lips. The flan is irregular and slightly broad, with the portrait well-centered. No legend appears on the obverse. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Odessos — modern Varna on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast — was a Milesian colony that maintained Alexander-type coinage long after the Macedonian empire had dissolved, a practice common among autonomous Greek cities of the western Pontic region that found the prestigious "Alexander" types essential for regional trade credibility. This particular issue, invoking Herakles, was struck over a span that brackets the city's gradual absorption into the Roman provincial orbit, a pressure that would eventually end autonomous civic minting altogether.
Price 1208 places this among the posthumous Odessos group distinguished by specific magistrate monograms, which can help narrow the broad date range considerably for individual specimens.