Every
numismatist writing in depth about
Alexander the Great over the past half century agrees that there's no proof or convincing evidence that he put
his own
portrait on
his coins. The
portrait is that of
Herakles, clearly, since in the majority of cases it's the very same
portrait that appeared on other Macedonian coins before Alexander, including those before he was born. The picture gets a
bit muddier with some of Alexander's lifetime issues, such as those from Babylon, that appear to incorporate some of what are likely Alexander's facial features on the
Herakles portrait, such as
his fierce gaze. But this was probably done unofficially by
mint magistrates or die engravors, not through an official directive from Alexander, as it's far from universal. The picture is complicated further by the fact that in ancient times, particularly after Alexander's death, it's likely that at least in some cases people regarded the
Herakles portrait on Alexander-type silver coinage as that of Alexander himself, given subsequent coinage. But it clearly wasn't intended that way with the majority of
his lifetime coinage, on which the
posthumous coinage was based. The first
portrait of Alexande the Great to appear on
standard circulating coins appeared on that of
his successors,
Ptolemy I,
Lysimachos (the most beautifully rendered
portrait), and possibly Seleukos I (scholars differ on this). Other
portraits of
Alexander the Great appeared later on Aesillas tetradrachms and Koinon of Macedonian bronzes and on other less voluminous coinage as well.
