Numismatica Genevensis SA
Auction 9 14 December 2015
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The Seleucid Kingdom, Antiochos I, 280 - 261 BC. Tetradrachm, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, c. 274 - 270 BC. (Silver, 17.24g., 27.9mm). Diademed head of Antiochos I to right / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding bow in his right hand; to left, monogram of Α; to right, monogram of ΗΡ. CSE 950. ESM 149. SC. 379.3.
A magnificent, fresh, beautiful coin struck in high relief with a wonderful portrait of a beleaguered king. Very probably the finest example of this type known. Good extremely fine.
Provenance: Numismatica Genevensis V, 2 December 2008, 137.
Antiochos I 'Soter' was the eldest son of Seleucos I, founder of the Seleucid Empire, and his wife, the Bactrian princess Apame, and was born c. 324 BC. He was made co-regent in 292, with special responsibility for the eastern satrapies, and was given his father's second wife Stratonice (daughter of Demetrios Poliorcetes) for his own. Antiochos became sole king following the assassination of his father in 281 and was immediately faced by revolts and disturbances all over the empire. He was able to stabilize the situation, and despite relatively minor territorial losses, by the end of his reign the empire was in particularly good condition. The portrait on this coin, struck in one of the three Seleucid royal capitals (the others being Sardes and Antioch), shows us the king as a powerful man in his early 50s, not yet fully bowed down by the cares of his long reign.
A magnificent, fresh, beautiful coin struck in high relief with a wonderful portrait of a beleaguered king. Very probably the finest example of this type known. Good extremely fine.
Provenance: Numismatica Genevensis V, 2 December 2008, 137.
Antiochos I 'Soter' was the eldest son of Seleucos I, founder of the Seleucid Empire, and his wife, the Bactrian princess Apame, and was born c. 324 BC. He was made co-regent in 292, with special responsibility for the eastern satrapies, and was given his father's second wife Stratonice (daughter of Demetrios Poliorcetes) for his own. Antiochos became sole king following the assassination of his father in 281 and was immediately faced by revolts and disturbances all over the empire. He was able to stabilize the situation, and despite relatively minor territorial losses, by the end of his reign the empire was in particularly good condition. The portrait on this coin, struck in one of the three Seleucid royal capitals (the others being Sardes and Antioch), shows us the king as a powerful man in his early 50s, not yet fully bowed down by the cares of his long reign.