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Alexander, we hardly got to know ya. (Post your favorite ATG coin)
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<p>[QUOTE="Trebellianus, post: 3567569, member: 91569"]The best authorities regard the head on Alexander's tetradrachms as intended to be simply a young Hercules -- not "Alexander attired as Hercules," "Hercules with the features of Alexander," etc.</p><p><br /></p><p>That said, there are certainly some coins where the head does resemble Alexander (or, at least, resembles the images of Alexander as have come down to us). This is interpreted as merely the whim of particular die-cutters, however, and not as the result of any kind of official policy.</p><p><br /></p><p>There's a scholarly overview of the issue <a href="http://rg.ancients.info/alexander/portrait.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://rg.ancients.info/alexander/portrait.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> and pages 13-21 <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/259063162/Essays-on-the-coinage-of-Alexander-the-Great-by-Alfred-R-Bellinger" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.scribd.com/document/259063162/Essays-on-the-coinage-of-Alexander-the-Great-by-Alfred-R-Bellinger" rel="nofollow">here</a>. The author's conclusion in the latter that the head was "<i>a traditional type</i>", but that "<i>...at some times and in some places, true likenesses of the king and his commanding personality inspired the hands of his artisans</i>" is probably a fair, cautious balance. I'd like to think so, anyway(!)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Trebellianus, post: 3567569, member: 91569"]The best authorities regard the head on Alexander's tetradrachms as intended to be simply a young Hercules -- not "Alexander attired as Hercules," "Hercules with the features of Alexander," etc. That said, there are certainly some coins where the head does resemble Alexander (or, at least, resembles the images of Alexander as have come down to us). This is interpreted as merely the whim of particular die-cutters, however, and not as the result of any kind of official policy. There's a scholarly overview of the issue [URL='http://rg.ancients.info/alexander/portrait.html']here[/URL] and pages 13-21 [URL='https://www.scribd.com/document/259063162/Essays-on-the-coinage-of-Alexander-the-Great-by-Alfred-R-Bellinger']here[/URL]. The author's conclusion in the latter that the head was "[I]a traditional type[/I]", but that "[I]...at some times and in some places, true likenesses of the king and his commanding personality inspired the hands of his artisans[/I]" is probably a fair, cautious balance. I'd like to think so, anyway(!)[/QUOTE]
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Alexander, we hardly got to know ya. (Post your favorite ATG coin)
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