★ A rare tetradrachm from Nisyros ★

KINGS OF MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’, 336-323 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 32 mm, 16.88 g, 12 h), Nisyros, circa 201. Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, И. Price 2508. Rare. A few light scratches on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.

Nisyros is a small, purely volcanic island located between Kos to the northwest and Rhodes to the southeast. With a diameter of 8 km, the island is almost circular in shape and dominated by a large caldera in the center measuring nearly 4 km in diameter. According to mythology, the Nisyros was formed during the Gigantomachy when Poseidon defeated the giant Polybotes by throwing the island onto him.