Obverse: Alexander in the Guise of Hercules
Facing Right
Reverse: Zeus Enthroned Holding an Eagles and
Scepter, Bucranium Left
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 empires 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 kingdom 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.
- (C.4953)
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