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Kingdom of Macedonia, Archelaus I, Obol

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Kingdom of Macedonia, Archelaus I, Obol (obverse) Kingdom of Macedonia, Archelaus I, Obol (reverse)

King Archelaus I of Macedon (413-399 BC) had masses of high quality coins minted to enhance trade in his realm. They bore the head of the Greek super hero Heracles wearing a lion scalp, and on the reverse a lion's head with Heracles' club. This was a self-explanatory symbol of power for everybody in Antiquity. Heracles, the strongest man of Greek mythology, had defeated the Nemean lion, the strongest of all animals. The motif of Heracles was later to become the image of identification for Alexander the Great.

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