Coin of Alexader the Great and President Kennedy's
After Alexander's death, Lysimachus, one of Alexander's more powerful generals took over part of the Macedonian Empire. The coin with the head of Alexander on the obverse, was commissioned by Lysimachus Tetradrachm during his lifetime and there after. The obverse it shows the head of Alexander depicted with ram's horns, and on the reverse it shows Athena (goddess of war), holding the Nike figure-personification of victory. The legend of the coin clearly reads in Greek "Of Lysimachus, King." The second coin, which was originally commissioned shortly after President Kennedy's tragic death has on its obverse the head of the President, and the legend "In God we trust." The reverse shows the American eagle with arrows and olive branches. The legend at the top reads "The United States of America" and another legend on this side reads "e plubribus unum"-"In God we trust." Though both coins portray the rulers difference in sovereignty, they have a similar function, in that they advertise the their specific type of leadership to the general public.The coin of Lysimachus shows Alexander's head raised a lot on the obverse side when compared with the image of Athena which is on a incuse on the reverse side. Alexander's face also tak
The coin with the President uses we in its legend "In God we trust", which signifies democratic leadership and not the single rulership of King Lysimachus. The reverse of the coin depicting Athena the goddess of war, holding Nike-personifying victory, serves to show Alexander's great strength in war. This political ploy ofcourse would make a rebel or Lysimachus greater enemies with no divine associations think twice about attacking him. Another similarity with the coins is that they were made to 'advertise' the present rulers leadership and the one depicted on the coin's leadership. The reverse of the coin shows the eagle, which itself represents unlimited freedom. Alexander was always winning in his campaigns, and therefore it must have meant that the very goddess of war was supporting him, and hence always ensuring he was never without Nike. However, unlike Alexander the President's likeness of the coin does not seem to depict him with aggressive nature, on the contrary, it depicts him with more controlled features, of a leader with a less turbulent personality like Alexander's. Although these coins do represent different styles of leaderships and different values of the rulers depicted they were basically made for the same reasons. He used coinage to convey this message to the subjects. Silver is an important metal to use when making coins showing powerful leaders, because it does not tarnish easily and hence the legacy of the ruler is able to live on. Also it shows President Kennedy as a ruler who was committed to the liberty of all his people, by having the word Liberty right above his head. His wrinkled forehead gives him an formidable look suggestive of his aggressive nature. It is also important to notice the difference in the legends of the two coins. Lysimachus associated himself with Alexander's deity, in order to show that he was protected and guranteed victory.
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Acceptance Essays
