Harkening back to the original designs used on the coins struck by Alexander the Great himself, these coins from Greece capture the intense persona of the world’s greatest military genius. These Alexander the Great 100 Drachmas were struck in 1994 and are significant not only because they pay tribute to Alexander. Here’s why: Now that Greece has converted to the euro, the unified currency of Europe, the drachma denomination no longer exists. Following a government recall and subsequent melting of Greek coinage, collectors were left scrambling to obtain coins like this for their private collections. Therefore, the availability of these pre-Euro Greek coins is rapidly vanishing.

This spectacular coin depicts a traditional image of Alexander the Great wearing a ram’s horn above his ear on the obverse. The reverse features the “Golden Star of Vergina,” a 16-ray star that was the symbol of Alexander’s ancient Greek Macedonian dynasty. In fact, this ancient star symbol was discovered on the cover of the tomb of Alexander’s father, Philippos II.