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Tetradrachm - Xenon In the name of Alexander III
| Issuer | Chios (Ionia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 190 BC - 165 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Youthful head of Heracles in right profile, beardless, wearing the Nemean lion skin headdress with the scalp knotted beneath the chin, the paws draped over the shoulders. The facial features are rendered in the classical Lysippan tradition, with curling locks of hair visible beneath the lion pelt. The flan exhibits an irregular edge characteristic of Hellenistic hammered coinage, with a beaded border framing the design. |
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| Reverse description | Zeus Aetophoros enthroned left on a backless stool-throne, his draped lower body resting on a footstool; his outstretched right hand supports an eagle with closed wings, while his left hand grasps a long sceptre. In the left field, the letters ΠΟ appear above a sphinx seated left upon a horizontal amphora, serving as the civic badge of Chios. The magistrate's name ΞΕΝΩΝ appears in the exergue, and the royal legend ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ runs along the right field. A beaded border frames the entire reverse composition. |
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| Additional information |
Chios issued posthumous Alexander tetradrachms under named magistrates — Xenon being among the attested series — as part of a broader Ionian practice of leveraging Alexander's monetary authority long after his death to facilitate trade across Aegean networks. The island's commercial position made currency interoperability essential, and the Alexandrine type carried acceptance that purely civic coinage could not guarantee. Price 2418 places this squarely within the late posthumous sequence, a period when such issues were proliferating across dozens of mints simultaneously.