GREEK, Arachosia, ca. 220-200 BC, Lysimachos/Alexander Hybrid Imitative AR Tetradrachm - Coin Hoards X Plate 16, 181 (this coin)

Diademed head of deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon.
Barbarized legend …ΛΕΞA... Zeus left seated on a backless throne, eagle in right hand, scepter held in left hand, pellet beneath throne above poorly defined dotted strut, indistinct possible mint control in left field.
Miller East Arachosia Hoard (Quetta Hoard, 2002 (CH 10.275), 181 (this coin) in Hoover, Meadows and Wattenberg Coin Hoards X Plate 16, 181 (this coin); SC p 483-488 Addenda III A Third Century Hoard from Arachosia.
(23 mm, 16.7 g, 6h)
ex- the East Arachosia (Quetta) Hoard 2001 (CH 10.275) buried ca. 206-200 BC.

This is a challenge for all but the cognoscenti. Notwithstanding its superficially shabby appearance, it qualifies as the best of its type because that is what it is, the best of four examples known. To appreciate this it is necessary to understand the background to the coin. This imitative hybrid was unknown to numismatists until 2001 when four examples were discovered in the East Arachosia (Quetta) Hoard in southwestern Pakistan, to date the only known find of the type. Three of the four examples, in lesser condition than this one, Miller (CH 10.275) 180 and 182 & 183 are now in the collection of the ANS as noted by van Alfen in AJN 14 (2002) p. 183-186 & pl. 29, #6, #7 & #8 (ANS 2002 acquisitions #460- #462; accession numbers: 2002.19.3 - 19.5). This fourth specimen is the only example outside of a museum collection.