Silver Tetradrachm of Alexander the Great in an artistic 18 K gold
Catalog:Jewelry:Coin Jewelry: stock #1427917
Silver Tetradrachm of Alexander the Great in an artistic 18 K gold
Necklace.
Obverse: Head of Alexander III as Herakles facing right.
Reverse: Zeus enthroned facing left, legs crossed with eagle and scepter. ALEXANDROU behind throne,
BASILEWS in exergue.
Size: 33.6 x 43.0 mm
Weight: 26.0 grams
How many hands have touched a coin in your pocket or your purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull out some
change, we rarely hesitate to think of who touched the coin before us, or where the coin will venture
to after us. More than money, coins are a symbol of the state that struck them, of a specific time and
place, whether currency in the age we live or an artifact of a long-forgotten empire. Worth a month’s
pay, a silver coin like this would have rewarded the bravery and fortitude of the officers serving under
one of history’s most celebrated generals, Alexander the Great. Son to King Phillip II of Macedon,
tutored in his youth by Aristotle, Alexander conquered one of the largest kingdoms the world has ever
known. Marching from Egypt, through Asia Minor, and into the heart of central Asia, Alexander lead a
swift and successful military campaign that defeated the potent Persians and stretched the edges of
Hellenic civilization to new lands. While his vast empire dissolved after his death, the carefully
cultivated legend of Alexander will continue to live on not only in our history books and museums, but
also in artifacts like this coin: concrete remnants of ancient empires passed from the hands of
civilization to civilization, from generation to generation.
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