Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 134 21 Nov 2022
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Greek Coins. Demetrius I, 162 – 150.
Stater, Ecbatana 152, AV 8.68 g. Diademed head r.; in l. field, eight-pointed star and K. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ΔHMHTPIOY – ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ Apollo seated l. on omphalos, holding arrow and bow. SC 1725 (this coin listed). cf. CSE 1248 (these dies but a drachm).
An apparently unique variety of an exceedingly rare type known in only three specimens.
Well-centred on a full flan, the reverse from a worn die, otherwise good very fine
Ex Triton II, 1998, 480 and CNG 46, 1998, 486 sales. From a Distinguished Swiss collection.
Under the terms of the Peace of Apamea (188 BC) that concluded the Roman war with Antiochus III, Demetrius I, the son of Seleukus IV, had been kept as a hostage in Rome to guarantee the good behaviour of his father and later, his uncle, Antiochus IV. Unfortunately, following the death of Antiochus IV, the Senate failed to permit Demetrius I to leave Italy to claim his rightful Syrian kingdom, instead preferring to see his nephew, the child king Antiochus V on the Seleucid throne. Nevertheless, with the assistance of the historian Polybius, in the autumn of 162 BC, Demetrius I managed to escape aboard a ship bound for Phoenicia. Upon arrival at the city of Tripolis, he raised a mercenary army and marched into Syria, where he was widely welcomed by the populace and quickly disposed of both the young Antiochus V and his chief minister Lysias. The reign of Demetrius I started off very well, but it was quickly derailed by revolts and foreign adventures that earned him the enmity of neighbouring kings and the suspicion of Rome. The Median satrap Timarchus revolted and claimed the kingship in the eastern Seleucid realm and was only crushed in 161 BC. In Babylon, Demetrius I was hailed as Soter (Saviour) for the defeat of Timarchus, a title that soon began to appear regularly on his coins. The Seleukid king subsequently meddled in the affairs of Cappadocia by supporting Orophernes in a bid to overthrow Ariarathes V and entered into negotiations to buy the island of Cyprus from its Ptolemaic governor. On top of all this, his somewhat dour character and excessive love of hunting did not endear him to the Antiochenes. In 153/2 BC, the kings of Pergamum, Egypt and Cappadocia joined forces to support Alexander of Smyrna-a pretender supposed to be a lost son of Antiochus IV-in deposing Demetrius I. By 150 BC, Demetrios I, the saviour of only a decade earlier, was killed in battle with the forces of Alexander and mourned by few. This unique gold stater may belong to the crisis period of Demetrius' reign brought on by the advent of Alexander as pretender to the Seleukid throne; however, it does not belong to the impressive dated series of gold multiples struck at Antioch as the king began to lose complete control in 151/0 BC. Instead, this stater was struck far to the east, using dies known to have struck silver drachms at Ecbatana. Considering the mint, which was at a great distance from the civil war playing out in Syria in the last years of the 150s BC, it is perhaps more likely that it was struck to meet expenses related to ongoing defence against the neighbouring and expanding Parthian Empire. In 148/7 BC, only a few years after the death of Demetrius I, Ecbatana and Media finally fell to the conquering Mithradates I of Parthia.
Stater, Ecbatana 152, AV 8.68 g. Diademed head r.; in l. field, eight-pointed star and K. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ΔHMHTPIOY – ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ Apollo seated l. on omphalos, holding arrow and bow. SC 1725 (this coin listed). cf. CSE 1248 (these dies but a drachm).
An apparently unique variety of an exceedingly rare type known in only three specimens.
Well-centred on a full flan, the reverse from a worn die, otherwise good very fine
Ex Triton II, 1998, 480 and CNG 46, 1998, 486 sales. From a Distinguished Swiss collection.
Under the terms of the Peace of Apamea (188 BC) that concluded the Roman war with Antiochus III, Demetrius I, the son of Seleukus IV, had been kept as a hostage in Rome to guarantee the good behaviour of his father and later, his uncle, Antiochus IV. Unfortunately, following the death of Antiochus IV, the Senate failed to permit Demetrius I to leave Italy to claim his rightful Syrian kingdom, instead preferring to see his nephew, the child king Antiochus V on the Seleucid throne. Nevertheless, with the assistance of the historian Polybius, in the autumn of 162 BC, Demetrius I managed to escape aboard a ship bound for Phoenicia. Upon arrival at the city of Tripolis, he raised a mercenary army and marched into Syria, where he was widely welcomed by the populace and quickly disposed of both the young Antiochus V and his chief minister Lysias. The reign of Demetrius I started off very well, but it was quickly derailed by revolts and foreign adventures that earned him the enmity of neighbouring kings and the suspicion of Rome. The Median satrap Timarchus revolted and claimed the kingship in the eastern Seleucid realm and was only crushed in 161 BC. In Babylon, Demetrius I was hailed as Soter (Saviour) for the defeat of Timarchus, a title that soon began to appear regularly on his coins. The Seleukid king subsequently meddled in the affairs of Cappadocia by supporting Orophernes in a bid to overthrow Ariarathes V and entered into negotiations to buy the island of Cyprus from its Ptolemaic governor. On top of all this, his somewhat dour character and excessive love of hunting did not endear him to the Antiochenes. In 153/2 BC, the kings of Pergamum, Egypt and Cappadocia joined forces to support Alexander of Smyrna-a pretender supposed to be a lost son of Antiochus IV-in deposing Demetrius I. By 150 BC, Demetrios I, the saviour of only a decade earlier, was killed in battle with the forces of Alexander and mourned by few. This unique gold stater may belong to the crisis period of Demetrius' reign brought on by the advent of Alexander as pretender to the Seleukid throne; however, it does not belong to the impressive dated series of gold multiples struck at Antioch as the king began to lose complete control in 151/0 BC. Instead, this stater was struck far to the east, using dies known to have struck silver drachms at Ecbatana. Considering the mint, which was at a great distance from the civil war playing out in Syria in the last years of the 150s BC, it is perhaps more likely that it was struck to meet expenses related to ongoing defence against the neighbouring and expanding Parthian Empire. In 148/7 BC, only a few years after the death of Demetrius I, Ecbatana and Media finally fell to the conquering Mithradates I of Parthia.