MACEDONIAN KINGDOM. Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). AR tetradrachm (29mm, 17.08 gm, 12h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 4/5. Posthumous issue of uncertain mint (Side?), ca. 323-317 BC. Head of Heracles right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied before neck / AΛEΞANΔPOY-BAΣIΛEΩΣ, Zeus enthroned left, right leg drawn back, feet on stool, eagle in right hand, scepter in left; no symbols, letters or control marks. cf. Price 1321 (ca. 250-200 BC). Extremely rare - no examples in sales archives. Alexander tetradrachms that show no control symbol or letters other than the basic coin types are surprisingly rare and scant in the academic references. Price lists only 10 different issues with no control marks out of more than 2,000 different varieties of tetradrachms and Price 1321 is the only one with the royal title Basileus. Stylistically this coin is far earlier than Price 1321, thus technically unlisted, but has the compact style, composition, and lovely portrait type of the lifetime-early posthumous issue "Side" tetradrachms, cf. Price 2948-2964 (ca. 325-320 BC).

HID09801242017

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