Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Antiochus II Theos, 261 – 246.
Stater, Cyme circa 261-246, AV 8.47 g. Diademed head r. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ANTIOXOY Nude Apollo seated l. on seat adorned with lion's leg, holding an arrow in his r. hand, bow in l.; above, E and below, monogram. In exergue, monogram. CSE 622 (this coin). SC 506 (this coin). Peus sale 425, 2019, 303 (these dies, erroneously described as the present coin).
Of the highest rarity, the finest of only two specimens known. An interesting portrait of
Hellenistic style and a finely detailed reverse composition. About extremely fine
Ex NFA XVIII, 1987, 290 and Triton II, 1998, 467 sales. From the Arthur Houghton collection and a Distinguished Swiss Collection.
The standard representation of Seleucid dynastic Apollo depicts the god seated on an omphalos, testing an arrow, and resting his hand on a grounded bow. This type, which was a regular feature of Seleucid precious metal coinage down to the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC), is thought to have been formulated by Antiochus I Soter (281-261 BC) and was probably introduced around 278 BC. Interestingly, the present unique gold stater diverges from this standard type and depicts Apollo seated on a throne with a decorative lion's leg. This iconographic peculiarity appears to reflect the influence of the silver coinage struck in the name of Philetaerus (281-263 BC), the dynast of Pergamum, both during his lifetime and under his Attalid successors. Athena on the Attalid Philetaeri is regularly depicted seated on such a throne with a lion's leg. If the Philetaeri have influenced the treatment of Apollo here, the question then becomes when and why did this take place. When the stater was first published as part of the first Seleucid collection of Arthur Houghton in Coins of the Seleucid Empire (1983) it was attributed to Antiochus I Soter on the basis of the portrait, but it was noted that it shares a monogram with a tetradrachm issue given by Newell to Antiochus II and featuring the same unexpected throne for the divine patron of the Seleucid dynasty (SC 507). However, when the stater was listed in Seleucid Coins, Part 1 (2002) it was attributed to Antiochus II and united with the tetradrachm, with the suggestion that the incomplete exergue monogram of the stater might be the same as one of the inner left field controls on the tetradrachm. If the attribution to Antiochus II is correct, then perhaps the unique stater and associated tetradrachms may reflect a reassertion of Seleucid authority in northwestern Asia Minor in the context of the Second Syrian War (261-253 BC). Previously, Troas and possibly also northern Aeolis had been lost by Antiochus I to Philetaerus' successor, Eumenes I, but these regions seem to have been reclaimed by Antiochus II, who also introduced Seleucid coinage at the mints there. The throne on the stater and related tetradrachms therefore would reflect a holdover from the earlier Philetaeri apparently used for the new coinage of Antiochus II before the local mint (Smyrna?) responsible became aware that the omphalos was necessary for the full Seleucid typological experience.
Stater, Cyme circa 261-246, AV 8.47 g. Diademed head r. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ANTIOXOY Nude Apollo seated l. on seat adorned with lion's leg, holding an arrow in his r. hand, bow in l.; above, E and below, monogram. In exergue, monogram. CSE 622 (this coin). SC 506 (this coin). Peus sale 425, 2019, 303 (these dies, erroneously described as the present coin).
Of the highest rarity, the finest of only two specimens known. An interesting portrait of
Hellenistic style and a finely detailed reverse composition. About extremely fine
Ex NFA XVIII, 1987, 290 and Triton II, 1998, 467 sales. From the Arthur Houghton collection and a Distinguished Swiss Collection.
The standard representation of Seleucid dynastic Apollo depicts the god seated on an omphalos, testing an arrow, and resting his hand on a grounded bow. This type, which was a regular feature of Seleucid precious metal coinage down to the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC), is thought to have been formulated by Antiochus I Soter (281-261 BC) and was probably introduced around 278 BC. Interestingly, the present unique gold stater diverges from this standard type and depicts Apollo seated on a throne with a decorative lion's leg. This iconographic peculiarity appears to reflect the influence of the silver coinage struck in the name of Philetaerus (281-263 BC), the dynast of Pergamum, both during his lifetime and under his Attalid successors. Athena on the Attalid Philetaeri is regularly depicted seated on such a throne with a lion's leg. If the Philetaeri have influenced the treatment of Apollo here, the question then becomes when and why did this take place. When the stater was first published as part of the first Seleucid collection of Arthur Houghton in Coins of the Seleucid Empire (1983) it was attributed to Antiochus I Soter on the basis of the portrait, but it was noted that it shares a monogram with a tetradrachm issue given by Newell to Antiochus II and featuring the same unexpected throne for the divine patron of the Seleucid dynasty (SC 507). However, when the stater was listed in Seleucid Coins, Part 1 (2002) it was attributed to Antiochus II and united with the tetradrachm, with the suggestion that the incomplete exergue monogram of the stater might be the same as one of the inner left field controls on the tetradrachm. If the attribution to Antiochus II is correct, then perhaps the unique stater and associated tetradrachms may reflect a reassertion of Seleucid authority in northwestern Asia Minor in the context of the Second Syrian War (261-253 BC). Previously, Troas and possibly also northern Aeolis had been lost by Antiochus I to Philetaerus' successor, Eumenes I, but these regions seem to have been reclaimed by Antiochus II, who also introduced Seleucid coinage at the mints there. The throne on the stater and related tetradrachms therefore would reflect a holdover from the earlier Philetaeri apparently used for the new coinage of Antiochus II before the local mint (Smyrna?) responsible became aware that the omphalos was necessary for the full Seleucid typological experience.