Tetradrachm - Lysimachus Sestos

Lysimachus struck these coins in the name and image of Alexander the Great rather than his own — a deliberate political move to claim legitimacy as Alexander's rightful successor among the Diadochi. Sestos, positioned at the narrowest crossing of the Hellespont, gave him direct control over grain shipments from the Black Sea to the Aegean, and the mint there served both economic and strategic purposes. The coinage ceased abruptly when Lysimachus was killed at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC, fighting Seleucus I, the last of the major Diadochi conflicts.