Lysimachus began issuing tetradrachms bearing the deified image of Alexander the Great around 297 BC — not out of sentimentality, but as a calculated political move. He had served as one of Alexander's bodyguards and used that proximity to legitimize his claim over Thrace and, eventually, western Asia Minor. The Sardis mint was critical to this strategy: captured from Antigonus after the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, it gave Lysimachus direct access to the financial infrastructure of a major Hellenistic commercial center.
The two reference numbers reflect distinct emission groups identified by Thompson's die study, distinguishing earlier from later Sardian output within this decade.
Lysimachus began issuing tetradrachms bearing the deified image of Alexander the Great around 297 BC — not out of sentimentality, but as a calculated political move. He had served as one of Alexander's bodyguards and used that proximity to legitimize his claim over Thrace and, eventually, western Asia Minor. The Sardis mint was critical to this strategy: captured from Antigonus after the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, it gave Lysimachus direct access to the financial infrastructure of a major Hellenistic commercial center.
The two reference numbers reflect distinct emission groups identified by Thompson's die study, distinguishing earlier from later Sardian output within this decade.