Alexander III, 336 – 323 and posthumous issues. Tetradrachm of 2 shekels, Babylon circa 327, AR 15.41 g, Indian archer standing r., drawing a large bow; in l. field, monogram. Rev. Indian elephant r.; below, Ξ. Price, Mnemata p. 70, 18 (this obverse die). Price, Naster Oblata p. 78, A/b (these dies). Dürr, Neues aus Babylonien, in SM 94 (1974), 36b (this coin). Mitchiner Type 22.
Of the highest rarity, only very few specimens known. An issue of tremendous
importance and fascination. Unusually well struck for the issue and with a
light tone. Very fine / good very fine

Ex NFA V, 1978, 82; NFA XXV, 1990, 82 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 305 sales.

As with all coins associated with the so-called ”Porus medallions”- a decadrachm issue belonging to the same series as this tetradrachm - the present piece features remarkable types that are completely new for Greek coinage. The obverse depicts a standing archer, but he is not any archer previously familiar to the Greeks. There is no representation of the Persian king armed with a bow as on darics and sigloi, but rather a depiction of an Indian warrior. His Indian ethnicity is implied by his dress and his hair, which seems to be bound up in a sort of turban, and his pairing with a reverse type depicting an elephant. Alexander the Great and his army made a foray into the Indian subcontinent in 327 BC and made war on a regional Punjabi king named Porus. At the Battle of the Hydaspes River (327 BC), the Macedonian army faced both the archers of Porus and his war elephants. However, despite the murderous arrows of the former and the terror inspired by the latter, the forces of Alexander were victorious. The battle was won at high cost, but Alexander admired the bravery and skill of Porus, appointing him as a local satrap. The Macedonian conqueror continued the exploration and attempted conquest of India despite the increasing misgivings of his men until at last in 325 BC the army mutinied near the Ganges River and forced him to begin the long and gruelling westward march home. It is thought that the present coin and others like it in the ”Porus Medallion” series were struck as a form of commemorative donative paid out to the army after the return from India. The use of the shekel weight standard has led to the conclusion that the coinage was produced at Babylon or possibly Susa. The specifically Indian and martial types may have been intended to remind recipients of their former glory in the East at a time when the army was tiring of Alexander’s campaigns and desirous of returning home to Macedonia. In 324 BC, the army mutinied again at Opis in Babylonia and demanded that Alexander begin demobilising his loyal and long serving veterans.