Alexander the Great Coins
There are two categories of Alexander the Great Coins. One are coins actually minted by Alexander the Great. The other are coins that depict the man himself.
Alexander the Great Coins
Alexander the Great was one of the most victorious military leaders of all time. He is known for conquering most of the known world at the time, and being undefeated in battle. He is viewed as a hero and a legend.
The coins minted by Alexander the Great were made between 336 and 323 BC. They are referred to as lifetime issue coins and are worth quite a lot today. There were two major coins, the drachm and the tetradrachm. The drachm was similar in size to a penny, whereas the tetradrachm was bigger than a quarter. Both coins were made out of silver.
There are two major designs on coins of this time frame. On one, the front of the Alexander coin has a depiction of Hercules. On the back of the coin is a picture of Zeus, who was Hercules’ father and the supreme god of the ancient Greeks. Almost all lifetime issue coins have Zeus pictured with his legs side by side. Some coins minted after Alexander’s death have Zeus pictured with one leg behind the other. The second coin is made of gold and has a picture of the goddess Athena on the front. On the reverse side is Nike, the goddess of victory. There is an inscription on the side of the coins that translates to “Of Alexander.”
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Many varieties of these same coins were minted after Alexander’s death. There are some small, subtle differences which set them apart. The leg position of Zeus is one. Also, many were only silver-plated rather than entirely made of silver. Because of this, many of the coins that resemble the lifetime issue coins have slash or bite marks in them. People would mark into the coin to see if it was silver all the way through. It is said that these replicas were minted for nearly a hundred years after his death.
The second category includes coins that depict the great hero Alexander himself. King Lysimachos was a bodyguard for Alexander the Great, and one of his successors. He minted several coins of Alexander, which are said to most clearly depict him. On one such coin, he pictures Alexander with a diadem, a sign of royalty, on his head and wearing a ram’s horn, which was symbolic of the god Zeus. In doing so, Lysimachos showed not only his respect for Alexander, but also solidified Alexander’s ideas that he was a son of Zeus. Ptolmey I and the Roman emperor Severus Alexander also minted coins depicting Alexander the Great.
