Tetradrachm - Lysimachus Lampsacus

Lysimachus struck these coins not merely as currency but as a deliberate political act — by placing the deified Alexander on his coinage, he claimed a legitimizing connection to his former commander that none of his rival Diadochi could easily contest. Lampsacus, a major mint city on the Hellespont, was strategically critical: controlling the strait meant controlling grain shipments from the Black Sea to the Aegean, and the mint's output funded that control directly.

Lysimachus died at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC, fighting Seleucus I, effectively ending his dynasty. Yet his coinage continued circulating — and being imitated — for well over a century after his death.