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Tetradrachm - Lysimachus Lampsacus
| Issuer | Kings of Thrace |
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| Year | 297 BC - 281 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Diademed head of the deified Alexander the Great facing right, his hair swept back in flowing locks with the ram's horn of Ammon curling behind the ear, symbolizing his divine lineage. The effigy is rendered in high relief with exceptional sculptural quality characteristic of early Hellenistic die-cutting. A dotted border frames the design around the upper periphery. The portrait follows the established iconographic tradition of Lysimachan coinage, presenting Alexander as a divine ruler rather than a mortal king. |
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| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Lysimachus minted these tetradrachms at Lampsacus — a strategically vital city on the Asian side of the Hellespont — as part of a deliberate monetary policy to project authority across his fragmented kingdom after Antigonus Monophthalmus fell at Ipsus in 301 BC. By placing Alexander's deified image on his coinage rather than his own portrait, Lysimachus was making a political argument: that he was the legitimate heir to Alexander's legacy in Thrace and Asia Minor. The gambit worked well enough that posthumous issues bearing this same type continued circulating for over a century after his death at Corupedium in 281 BC.