Greek: THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (305-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 16.90 gm, 11h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style....

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THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (305-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (30mm, 16.90 gm, 11h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Lifetime issue, Cius, ca. 288/7-282/1. Diademed head of deified Alexander III right, with horn of Ammon / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ-ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ, Athena seated left, Nike standing left in outstretched right hand, resting left arm on grounded shield with lion-head boss, transverse spear beyond; ΦΛ monogram in outer left field, ΠE monogram in inner left field, horizontal club right below throne, horizontal grain stalk left in exergue. Thompson 182. Müller 371 (Heraclea ad Pontum). Shimmery toning with blond backlight. Seemingly rare.

Alexander the Great's meteoric 13-year career of conquest left the classical world profoundly transformed by the time of his premature death in 323 BC. In the immediate aftermath, Alexander's generals carved up his immense new empire into spheres of influence, although maintaining the fiction of a unified leadership. Territorial disputes soon led to civil wars, with the rival warlords contending for supreme power. Chief among these was Lysimachus, who at various times controlled Thrace, Macedon, and much of Asia Minor. For the obverse of his silver his coinage, Lysimachus claimed the mantle of Alexander by choosing the image of the conqueror himself, now shown as a god wearing the ram's horn of the Greco-Egyptian deity Ammon. The image is one of the earliest true portraits to appear on a coin, and one of the finest. The reverse, depicting Athena enthroned, likewise proved extremely influential throughout history, forming the archetype for the figure of Britannia on modern English coins.

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