Coins with the image of Alexander were widespread and accepted throughout his empire as kept circulating in large numbers long after his death.
Research has
revealed that the coins with Alexander’s
effigy started to circulate much later than initially accepted. Until that time,
the currencies of Philipand Darius
were familiar together with those minted by individual cities. We actually had
to wait till after Alexander’s
victory at Issusin 333 BC to find the first mints to be established in
Frank
Holt has made an excellent analysis of the Alexander
coins in his book, The Treasures of Alexander the Great. The first coins were silver ones minted in
The silver collected from the Royal Persian treasuries contributed largely to the production of the tetradrachms. It has been estimated that between 333 and 290 BC (which is well after Alexander’s death in 323 BC) approximately 60 million tetradrachms were produced, together with 66 million drachms and 12 million gold staters! Just try to imagine the impact such a huge amount of money had on the economy!
After the king’s death, his successors kept the same currency system in place, although they gradually replaced Alexander’s image with their own – still in Alexander-style though.
The Numismatic Museum of Athens has a wide range of coins on display to pick our choice. This trio of tetradrachms, for instance, displays the figures of Philip IIon top, and underneath in Alexander-style Lysimachos(left) and Ptolemy (right).
In comparison, Seleucos I here depicted on a coin from the Antalya Museum carries a more pronounced lion skin still entirely in the Alexander tradition.
Once the Diadochi became king in their own right over their newly delimited territories, the Alexander inspired image was replaced by their own effigy and the reverse of the coins rightfully carried the inscription Basileus.
For a long time, coins carrying Alexander’s image remained in use though because his veteran soldiers were used to receiving their payment in tetradrachms!