Alexander III the Great. Ar Tetradrachm (320-315 BCE)
Ancient CoinsAcquired September 14, 2021

Alexander III the Great. Ar Tetradrachm (320-315 BCE)

GreeceSilverPtolemaic

Coin specifications

Hellenistic
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Struck
320 BCE – 315 BCE
Denomination
Tetradrachm
Metal
Silver
Weight
17.08 g
Ruler
Ptolemy I Soter
Mint
Arados

Posthumous Alexander-type silver struck under Ptolemaic authority; paid soldiers and moved through eastern Mediterranean trade routes.

SyriaPhoeniciaEgypt
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Catalog details

Struck under Ptolemy I. Arados Mint. 17.08g. Price 3426 (Byblos)

Ptolemy I Soter

Struck under Ptolemy I Soter (/ˈtɒləmi/; Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC), also known as Ptolemy Lagides, was a Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great of the Kingdom of Macedon in northern Greece who became ruler of Egypt, part of Alexander's former empire. Ptolemy was pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 305/304 BC to his death. He was the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled Egypt until the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC, turning the country into a Hellenistic kingdom and Alexandria into a center of Greek culture.

(Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_I_Soter)

Reverse

Zeus seated left holding eagle. AP monogram in field left. Good metal and surfaces (silver)

Obverse

Herakles wearing lion skin headdress

Contemporary world

Major events happening around the time this piece was struck.

  • Death of Alexander the Great

    323 BCE

    Alexander's sudden death in Babylon triggered wars among his generals and the breakup of his empire into successor kingdoms.

    Wikipedia
  • Ptolemaic Egypt founded

    305 BCE

    Ptolemy I Soter declared himself pharaoh, founding a Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries and struck Alexander-type tetradrachms.

    Wikipedia
  • Arados as a Ptolemaic mint

    320 BCE – 315 BCE

    The Phoenician city of Arados struck Alexander-type tetradrachms under Ptolemaic control, circulating silver across the eastern Mediterranean.

    Wikipedia