Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3051 8-9 January 2017
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SELEUCID KINGDOM. Seleucus I Nicator (312-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (27mm, 17.14 gm, 10h). NGC XF★ 5/5 - 5/5. Susa, ca. 305/4-295 BC. Bust of Seleucus right, wearing Attic helmet covered with panther skin and adorned with bull's ear and horn / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ, Nike standing right, crowning with wreath military trophy consisting of cuirass, shield, greaves and helmet, AP in lower left field, AΠ monogram to right, facing head of Helios bust between. SC 173.16. HGC 9, 20. ESM 301. Struck on a broad flan and lightly toned.
Debate has long swirled regarding the identity of the 'helmeted hero' appearing on the obverse of this type - is it Seleucus I himself, or Alexander the Great, or a composite demigod incorporating features of Seleucus, Alexander and Dionysus? In the new Handbook of Syrian Coins (CNG, 2009), Oliver Hoover opts for identifying the portrait as an idealized image of Seleucus himself. The reverse design of Nike crowning trophy, shown with exemplary centering and unusual clarity in this example, was inspired by a nearly simultaneous issue of the Syracusan tyrant Agathocles thousands of miles away.
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD
SELEUCID KINGDOM. Seleucus I Nicator (312-281 BC). AR tetradrachm (27mm, 17.14 gm, 10h). NGC XF★ 5/5 - 5/5. Susa, ca. 305/4-295 BC. Bust of Seleucus right, wearing Attic helmet covered with panther skin and adorned with bull's ear and horn / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ, Nike standing right, crowning with wreath military trophy consisting of cuirass, shield, greaves and helmet, AP in lower left field, AΠ monogram to right, facing head of Helios bust between. SC 173.16. HGC 9, 20. ESM 301. Struck on a broad flan and lightly toned.
Debate has long swirled regarding the identity of the 'helmeted hero' appearing on the obverse of this type - is it Seleucus I himself, or Alexander the Great, or a composite demigod incorporating features of Seleucus, Alexander and Dionysus? In the new Handbook of Syrian Coins (CNG, 2009), Oliver Hoover opts for identifying the portrait as an idealized image of Seleucus himself. The reverse design of Nike crowning trophy, shown with exemplary centering and unusual clarity in this example, was inspired by a nearly simultaneous issue of the Syracusan tyrant Agathocles thousands of miles away.
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD