SELEUKID EMPIRE. Seleukos I Nikator. 312-281 B.C. Æ. 6.81 gm. 19 mm. Seleukeia on the Tigris mint, 1st workshop. Struck circa 296/5 B.C or later. Helmeted head of Athena right / Elephant standing right; monogram above, Π below. SC 128. HGC 9, 83. Good Fine; dark green and brown patina; light porosity and cleaning marks. Charming elephant.

"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).