A fine Ancient Greek silver drachm, featuring to the obverse the depiction of Alexander the Great as young Herakles, portrayed in profile wearing the lion’ skin headdress. The reverse, which is slightly concaved, displays the Greek god Zeus Aëtophoros portrayed bare chested and regally seated on a throne. The deity appears holding an eagle and a long sceptre. The deity is flanked to the right side by Greek letters forming the word ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟY, meaning Of Alexander. A spearhead can be seen in the outer right field and barley grain in the left field. This coin of Alexander was issued posthumously and struck under Philip III Arrhidaeus in Kolophon, Asia Minor.
The Greek drachma (ελληνική δραχμή) was the name given to the currency of Ancient Greece. It takes its name from the drachma, the ancient unit of measurement used in many Greek city-states and in many Middle Eastern kingdoms of the Hellenistic period. Alexander the Great was the legendary king of the Hellenistic Kingdom of Macedon. Born in 356 BC, he succeeded his father, Philip II, when he was just 20 years old. In just 10 years from his ascension to the throne, he built one of the largest empires of the Ancient World, as his kingdom stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He died in Babylon, which he intended to make the capital of his empire, in 323 BC, at just 33 years of age.
