Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 121 6-8 Oct 2022
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SELEUKID EMPIRE. Demetrios II Nikator. Second reign, 129-125 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27.5mm, 16.38 g, 12h). Damaskos mint. Dated SE 184 (129/8 BC). Diademed and bearded head right / Zeus Nikephoros seated left; below throne, N above Δ; ΔΠP (date) in exergue. SC 2181.2a; Schwei Group 2, 17–25 var. (A4/P– [unlisted rev. die]); HGC 9, 1116d; DCA 223. Iridescent tone, trace deposits on reverse. Good VF.
From the North River Collection.
The two reigns of Demetrios II were separated by nine years spent in comfortable Parthian captivity, during which he grew a long beard, as seen on this tetradrachm of Damaskos. That, along with his marriage to the Parthian princess Rhodogune and the exotic eastern habits he had adopted, led many of his Greek subjects to suspect him of being, in modern parlance, a "Parthian Candidate" with a secret agenda to hand over Syria. Faced with multiple crises, his few supporters quickly abandoned him and he was deposed and summarily executed four years into his second reign.
From the North River Collection.
The two reigns of Demetrios II were separated by nine years spent in comfortable Parthian captivity, during which he grew a long beard, as seen on this tetradrachm of Damaskos. That, along with his marriage to the Parthian princess Rhodogune and the exotic eastern habits he had adopted, led many of his Greek subjects to suspect him of being, in modern parlance, a "Parthian Candidate" with a secret agenda to hand over Syria. Faced with multiple crises, his few supporters quickly abandoned him and he was deposed and summarily executed four years into his second reign.