14. Rhodes: Tetradrachm in the name of Alexander the Great.

Tetradrachm, ca 201 - 190 BC, Rhodes mint.
Obverse: Head of Alexander as Herakles, wearing lion's skin headdress.
Reverse: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ / Zeus sitting, holding his attendant eagle and sceptre. ΔΑΜΑΤΡΙΟΣ and rosebud at left, ΡΟ under throne.
16.89 gm., 32 mm.
P. #2521; M. #1162.

In 202 - 201 BC, Philip V of Macedon was threatening the cities of Asia Minor. Pergamum and Rhodes were political and military rivals, but they were allies against this common aggressor. Each city struck coins of the Alexander type so that the fleet and army assembled in this alliance could be paid in a common currency. By 190 BC old animosities reemerged and the joint coinage ended.