Tetradrachmon struck in the name and types of Alexander III of Makedonia (Macedon) by Seleukos I Nikator - 1967.25
Obv: Head of Herakles r., in lionskin headdress
Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔΡOY (‘of King Alexander’), Zeus seated left; monogram in wreath in left field, MI beneath chair.
Title: Tetradrachmon struck in the name and types of Alexander III of Makedonia (Macedon) by Seleukos I Nikator - 1967.25
Culture or period: Macedon and Successors
Date: c. 311 - 305 BC.
Material: Metal - Silver
Object type: Coins - Greek
Acquisition number: 1967.25
Dimensions: 27mm (w)
Origin region or location: Iraq
Display case or on loan: 5
Keywords: Coin, Greek, Macedonian, Herakles, Zeus, Alexander, Seleukos, tetradrachmon, Babylon, Diadochoi
M.J. Price, The Coinage n the Name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus: A British Museum Catalogue (London and Zurich, The British Museum and the Swiss Numismatic Society, 1991), 3747.
1967.25
Tetradrachmon struck in the name and types of Alexander III of Makedonia (Macedon) by Seleukos I Nikator
Silver 17.00 g. 27 mm. c. 311-305 BC.
Obv: Head of Herakles r., in lionskin headdress
Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔΡOY (‘of King Alexander’), Zeus seated left; monogram in wreath in left field, MI beneath chair.
Babylon I mint.
Seleukos I was allotted the satrapy of Babylon in 321 BC. He was the longest surviving of the generals who succeeded Alexander despite being ousted temporarily in 316 BC. He proclaimed himself king of an expanded territory in 305 BC. In 301 BC two groups of the Diodochoi (the successors of Alexander the Great came to blows at the Battle of Ipsos. The victorious group were Kassandros, ruler of Makedonia, Lysimachos ruler of Thrace; and Seleukos I. In 282 BC Seleukos was invited by Lysimachos to invade parts of western Asia Minor. He was assassinated, however, before he was able to take possession of the territories.
The early silver coinage of Seleukos I was struck with the types of Alexander the Great until 305/4 BC. After that year coins were struck in his own name. His large and varied coinage was struck in three metals (gold, bronze and, predominantly, silver) and in a number of denominations appropriate to various regions in the kingdom.
Portrait heads did not appear until the reign of Seleukos’ son Antiochos I Soter. The first portrait silver issues appeared early in that reign, c. 275 BC.
Cf. 2006.03 in this collection.
M.J. Price, The Coinage n the Name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus: A British Museum Catalogue (London and Zurich, The British Museum and the Swiss Numismatic Society, 1991), 3747.
