Gemini, LLC
Auction X 13 January 2013
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Seleucid Kingdom. Antiochus IV. 175-164 BC. Tetradrachm, 16.77g. (12h). Syria. Antioch, 168 BC. Obv: Laureate head of Zeus right. Fillet border. Rx: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΝΙΚHΦΟΡΟΥ Zeus enthroned left, holding scepter and Nike who faces right, offering crown to Zeus. SC 1398. Le Rider, Antioche, p. 202, 230-252, pl. 23, 6-9. SNG Spaer 1003. Choice EF.
This rare issue of Antiochus IV with Zeus head on obverse is special in several respects. For the first time, Antiochus' epithet Nikephoros (Bearer of Victory) is introduced in the royal titulature. Accordingly, the reverse displays not Apollo, the god of the dynasty, but Zeus holding Nike, and the head of Zeus replaces the portrait of the ruler on the obverse. The occasion for this small issue might have been Antiochus' return to Antioch after his second Egyptian campaign, but the types also attest his ambitions to be a patron of Greek culture and religion at home and abroad.
This rare issue of Antiochus IV with Zeus head on obverse is special in several respects. For the first time, Antiochus' epithet Nikephoros (Bearer of Victory) is introduced in the royal titulature. Accordingly, the reverse displays not Apollo, the god of the dynasty, but Zeus holding Nike, and the head of Zeus replaces the portrait of the ruler on the obverse. The occasion for this small issue might have been Antiochus' return to Antioch after his second Egyptian campaign, but the types also attest his ambitions to be a patron of Greek culture and religion at home and abroad.