The accession of Alexander brought about a change in the monetary
system of the kingdom. Philip's bimetallic system, which had attempted
artificially to fix the value of silver in spite of the great
depreciation of gold consequent upon the working of the Pangaean
mines, was abandoned. Alexander's gold coinage, indeed (possibly not
struck till after the invasion of Asia), follows in weight that of
Philip's staters; but he seems at once to have adopted for his silver
coins (of a smaller denomination than the tetradrachm) the
Euboic-Attic standard, instead of the Phoenician, which had been
Philip's. With the conquest of Asia, Alexander conceived the plan of
issuing a uniform coinage for the empire. Gold had fallen still
further from the diffusion of the Persian treasure, and Alexander
struck in both metals on the Attic standard, leaving their relation to
adjust itself by the state of the market. This imperial coinage was
designed to break down the monetary predominance of Athens (Beloch,
_Gr. Gesch._ iii. i, 42). None of the coins with Alexander's own image
can be shown to have been issued during his reign; the traditional
gods of the Greeks still admitted no living man to share their
prerogative in this sphere. Athena and Nike alone figured upon
Alexander's gold; Heracles and Zeus upon his silver.
See L. Müller, _Numismatique d'Alexandre le Grand_ (1855); also
NUMISMATICS: § I. "Greek Coins, Macedonian."