Watch List notes:

Greek Coins

Seleucid Kings, Demetrius I Soter, 162 – 150. Tetradrachm, Seleucia on the Tigris 161-150, AR 15.97 g. Jugate busts r. of Demetrius I, diademed, and Laodicea, draped and wearing stephane. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ Tyche seated l. on backless throne supported by winged tritoness, holding sceptre and cornucopiae; in outer l. field, HP ligate and in outer r. field P retrograde. In exergue, ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ. SC 1689.3.
Of the highest rarity, only one specimen listed by Houghton Lorber with these control
marks. Two interesting portraits well-centred on a full flan. Good very fine

Prior to becoming a Seleucid king, Demetrius I was held hostage in Rome in keeping with the terms of the Treaty of Apamaea of 188 B.C. During his detention a succession of kings ruled the Seleucid world, including Demetrius' father Seleucus IV, his uncle Antiochus IV and his young cousin Antiochus V. At a time when the Romans were punishing Antiochus V for treaty violations, Demetrius escaped captivity, raised an army and landed in Syria in the fall of 162 B.C. He found quick support, and his rival Antiochus V was soon executed, leaving Demetrius the new Seleucid king.
With all of the political intrigue unfolding in Syria, the Romans represented their interests by encouraging Timarchus, the satrap of Media (and/or Babylonia), to revolt against Demetrius. (In fact, the Romans may have merely lent their support to a revolt that already had been active since c.163/2 against Demetrius' predecessor, Antiochus V.) It is difficult to say how much progress Timarchus made, other than that he certainly captured Seleucia on the Tigris, where he struck some of his revolt coins. Upon learning of the revolt, Demetrius marched eastward early in 161; when their armies clashed in the spring, perhaps not far from Babylon, Timarchus was killed. Though the troubles of his reign were far from over, Demetrius was once again the sole Seleucid king. If the coinage of Seleucia on the Tigris is any indication, important events took place in the aftermath of the battle. The Babylonians conferred upon Demetrius the epithet Soter ('saviour') and he seems to have married his sister Laodicea, with whom he eventually had three children (two of whom, Demetrius II and Antiochus VII, would be kings). The first coins Demetrius struck at Seleucia – including this tetradrachm – were of a victorious and commemorative nature, and bore his new epithet. They appear to celebrate his marriage, as they are the only coins of his reign that portray Laodicea. The fact that so many (if not all) of these tetradrachms are overstruck on coins of Timarchus probably reflects the hurried circumstances of their production and, simultaneously, a desire to erase the memory of the rebellion.