Macedon Alexander III The Great 336-323 BC Silver Tetradrachm

Macedon Alexander III The Great 336-323 BC Silver Tetradrachm

Postumous issue

Bust of Hercules / Zeus seated left

35mm, 16.13g

 

Alexander III of Macedon, known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty and spent most of his ruling years on an extensive military campaign through Asia and north east Africa, creating one of the largest empires of the ancient world by thirty years of age. It stretched from Greece to north western India. Alexander was undefeated in battle and is considered one of the most successful military commanders throughout history.

This coin comes from the Cambridge collection of Ancient Greek Coinage. This extensive collection was formed over 40 years by a couple who shared their passion for classical history, carefully collecting as many known types as were available, spending hours labelling each coin and fitting it in to their collection. The kingdom of Ancient Greece is not easy to understand but illustrated with these wonderful coins a map emerges and being so beautiful in their design, they are a pleasure to handle. As with any collection the time comes where it must be passed on and in this case the collectors decided to sell each coin individually to give the next generation of enthusiasts the opportunity to select pieces for their own collections. Many of the coins have previous labels.