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Tetradrachm - Lysimachus Ephesus
| Issuer | Kings of Thrace |
|---|---|
| Year | 294 BC - 287 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 17.21 g |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Athena Nikephoros seated in three-quarter view to left upon an ornate throne, her right hand extending forward to hold a winged Nike who crowns the royal legend, while her left elbow rests upon a large round shield set against the throne. A transverse spear is positioned diagonally behind her figure, with the point directed toward the lower left. In the inner left field, a bee facing left serves as a mint control symbol, and a monogram appears on the throne. The two-line Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ, meaning 'of King Lysimachus', flanks the central type to right and left. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Lysimachus began issuing tetradrachms bearing the deified image of Alexander the Great around 297 BC, a calculated political move to legitimize his rule over territories he had held since the original partition following Alexander's death in 323. The Ephesus mint was one of several western Anatolian facilities pressed into this program, operating during a period when Lysimachus was consolidating control over Asia Minor against the competing ambitions of Seleucus I and the Ptolemaic sphere.
He was killed at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC, yet his coinage continued to circulate and be imitated for over a century afterward — a rare case of a dead king's monetary type outlasting his dynasty entirely.