Tetradrachm of Ptolemy I Soter as Satrap, Alexandria (Harvard Art Museum) [6000×2450]

Obverse: Head of Alexander III (the Great) in elephant skin.

Reverse: Zeus seated on throne, holding an eagle and scepter; thunderbolt; rho upsilon below throne.

Reverse inscription: ALEXANDROY; R Y

Ptolemy likely minted this coin around 316-315 BCE but possibly as early as 321. Historian Richard Billows believes this is the first coin minted in/by "the West" to depict a human figure.