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Tetradrachm - Lysimachus Mytilene
| Issuer | Kings of Thrace |
|---|---|
| Year | 294 BC - 290 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | Athena Nikephoros seated left on a high-backed throne, wearing chiton and aegis, her right hand extended to receive Nike who faces left and raises a wreath over the royal legend; Athena's left arm rests upon a large round shield bearing a lion's head boss, with a long spear placed diagonally behind her. In the inner left field, a cornucopiae; in the outer right field, a chelys (lyre) serving as a mint control symbol. The two-line legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ is disposed to either side of the enthroned figure, identifying Lysimachus as issuing authority. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ |
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| Additional information |
Lysimachus struck these coins in the name and with the image of Alexander the Great as a deliberate political act — he was one of Alexander's bodyguards and successors, and invoking Alexander's divine authority helped legitimize his own contested rule over Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedonia. The Mytilene mint on Lesbos came under his control following his campaigns against Antigonus, and its output during this narrow window reflects the administrative consolidation of a kingdom still being assembled by force.
Thompson's corpus identifies the Mytilene issues as among the more precisely attributable in the Lysimachean series, with die linkage helping to anchor the chronology to the early 290s BC.