THE COINS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Alexander III AR Tetradrachm. Pella mint. Ca 325-315 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lionskin headdress / AΛEΞANΔΡOY, Zeus seated left, holding eagle and sceptre; SI in left field. Mueller 1397.

Alexander became the ruler of Macedonia in 336 BCE, after the murder of his father Philip II. Ancient Macedonia was situated in the northeastern area of modern day Greece.Even though Alexander was only 20, he launched a massive military expedition against the Persian Empire. The area of contention between the Persians and the Greeks was Asia Minor (modern day Turkey – the Turks had not arrived yet).  Alexander’s armies swept down into Egypt and then circled back, taking territory the whole way to borders of India. Alexander’s armies defeated every army for 13 years. While traveling back home through Babylon, Alexander died at the age of 33 in 323 BCE. The coins minted under his name from 336 to 323 BCE are referred to as lifetime issues and command a high price today.


After Alexander's death, the newly established Empire was divided up among Alexander’s generals and his family. There were many kingdoms formed out this Alexandrian Empire but the three principal kingdoms were the Macedonian Kingdom, Seleucid Kingdom, and Ptolemy Kingdom. The borders of all these kingdoms changed frequently. The cities throughout this fractured empire continued to mint coins using Alexander’s name for the next 250 years. These coins are posthumous issues and naturally make up the bulk of the Alexander coins found today.

Coin Types

The two dominant coins of Alexander were the drachm (drachma) and the tetradrachm (tetra = 4). The drachm is about 18 mm wide and weighs about 4.2 grams of silver (size of a penny). The tetradrachm size varies according to when and where it was minted but ranges from 25-40 mm wide and weighs 17.2 grams of silver (larger than a quarter). Alexander coins were considered sound money as the receiver knew that the coin was of a certain weight of silver. The value of the coin principally came from what it was made of, not who issued the coin. The weights of the coins were regulated by city officials called magistrates. It is often their official symbols and monograms that we find on the coins. Ancient forgers used to coat copper coins with silver and try to pass them off as pure silver coins. It is not uncommon to find an ancient banker’s mark or a test cut in ancient coins. By piercing the coin, the person could tell if the silver ran through the coin. The Alexander coinage was principally used to pay soldiers, tribute (levies & taxes), and later protection money to the barbarians. It was not for the purpose of establishing the free flow of commerce. Coins were also made of gold and bronze, but we will principally deal with the silver issues here. When Alexander was alive, there were about 26 mints producing his coinage. After his death, Greek rulers and cities throughout the former Alexandrian Empire produced Alexander coinage at 52 mints at its peak. In all about 91 different mints produced Alexander coinage over the 250 years. The last Alexanders were minted at Mesembria around 65 BCE.

Alexander  drachm. 310-275 BC, Head of Herakles right, wearing lionskin knotted at base. / AΛEΞANΔΡOY, Zeus seated left and holding an eagle.

Coin Design

The Alexander coin has Heracles on the front. On the back was the supreme God, Zeus, who was the father of Heracles. Zeus sits on his throne holding a scepter and eagle. Although some people have argued the image of Heracles was Alexander himself, there is no convincing evidence of this and the face of Heracles is different in different regions. Heracles is the greatest hero of the Greeks. Born of the Greek God Zeus and a mortal mother, Heracles became a God by accomplishing 12 great tasks on Earth known as the 12 Labors of Heracles. The idea of a man becoming a God obviously was an attractive image for Alexander. The headdress that appears on the head of Heracles is the lion skin of the fierce Nemean lion that was killed by Heracles during his first labor.

One of the lifetime issued tetradrachm coins of Alexander the Great.

There are two main styles on the back. One has Zeus with his legs side by side and another style has one leg behind the other. While most lifetime issues have Zeus with his legs side by side and most posthumous issues have one leg behind the other, there are some occasional exceptions.

Posthumous issued tetradrachm coin of Alexander the Great.

Coin Inscriptions

There are two types of inscriptions found on the reverse of Alexander coins. The primary inscription is ALEXANDROU (of Alexander) and ALEXANDROU BASILEWS (of Alexander the King). The "of" refers to the "coin of Alexander". The title "King" found on certain coins varied according to region and time period. The Greek speaking people were not partial to the idea of being ruled by any king and therefore the title is not generally found on Alexander coins of mainland Greece.

Coin Dating

There was no uniform dating system for the ancient world, like the one we have todey. Some kingdoms later dated their coins according to when a ruler came to power (Ptolemy, Seleucid Kingdoms). Therefore, by knowing when a ruler was in power, we can date some coins. Most ancient coins, unfortunately, had no such archaic dating system on them. The Greeks, however, did place a mind numbing variety of symbols and monograms on many coins. Some monograms were abbreviations of cities or names of officals, and some still remain a mystery. Through scholarly investigation of common coin styles and a little Indiana Jones deciphering, most coins can be placed into a specific date range and assigned to a particular city or region.

Alexander Tetradrachm. Odessos mint. 125-70 BCE. Head of Herakles right, wearing lionskin headdress / BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔΡOY, Zeus seated left, holding eagle and sceptre; EΣTI in left field.

SOURCES : coinsoftime , wildwinds