Silver Tetradrachm - Ancient Greece: Kings of Thrace, c. 305-281 BC
Ruler: Lysimachos
Obv: Head of Deified Alexander the Great, right, with Horn of Ammon
Rev: Athena with Nike, seated left, arm on shield
Mint: Lampsakos - (30mm, 16.89gm)
This series by Lysimachos is believed to represent the most accurate portrait of Alexander.
Lysimachus was born in 362/361 BC, to a family of Thessalian Greek stock. He was the second son of Agathocles and his wife. His father was a nobleman of high rank who was an intimate friend of Philip II of Macedon, who shared in Philip II’s councils and became a favorite in the Argead court. Lysimachus and his brothers grew up with the status of Macedonians; all these brothers enjoyed with Lysimachus prominent positions in Alexander’s circle and, like him, were educated at the Macedonian court in Pella.
He was probably appointed Somatophylax during the reign of Philip II. During Alexander's Persian campaigns, he was one of his immediate bodyguards. In 324 BC, in Susa, he was crowned in recognition for his actions in India. After Alexander’s death in 323 BC, he was appointed to the government of Thrace as strategos.
