SELEUKID EMPIRE. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 B.C. AR tetradrachm. 16.76 gm. 25 mm. In the name and types of Alexander III of Macedon. Babylon I mint. Struck circa 311-300 B.C. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; monogram in wreath to left, MI below throne. SC 82.5b. Price 3747. HGC 9, 10f. Good Very Fine; rich old toning; good style (Babylon mint produced among the finest artistry of the era).

"The Seleukid Empire was the largest of the successor states carved from the short-lived empire of Alexander the Great, and arguably the most culturally diverse. Over nearly two and a half centuries it produced an astonishing volume and variety of coinage...from mints scattered across its vast expanse." (Seleucid Coins: A Comprehensive Catalogue, Volume I, by Arthur Houghton and Catharine Lorber with Brian Kritt.) Lots 41-48 continue our offering of Seleukid coins begun in our last sale, with all but one (45) from the same collection. Included are a handful of tetradrachms from several different mints of Seleukos I, who founded the Seleukid dynasty which ruled until Pompey made Syria a Roman province in 63 B.C. It concludes with a handsome portrait tetradrachm of his son and successor, Antiochos I Soter (48).