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Alexander with elephant scalp

Circa 323–285 BC　・　silver　・　4th century BC　・　Ptolemaic Kingdom (Alexandria)

Alexander with elephant scalp（obverse）
ArchaiOptix / CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）

Minted in Alexandria under Ptolemy I, circa 323–285 BC. The obverse shows Alexander III wearing an elephant scalp headdress with the horn of Ammon, and the reverse shows Zeus enthroned, with the legend "ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ". This type appeared around the time Ptolemy seized Alexander's body and brought it to Alexandria, and it is the first portrait of Alexander to appear on a coin. During his lifetime, the king's own face was not on his coins—the dead king appeared on coinage in the guise of a god. From the collection of the Staatliche Münzsammlung, Munich.