Watch List notes:

JDL Collection Part II: Geek Coins
ASIA. KINGDOM OF SYRIA.

SELEUCUS I NICATOR, 312/11–281.

Distater, Cappadocian, Syrian, or Mesopotamian mint after 305, Attic standard, AV 17.17 g.
Obv. Helmeted head of Athena right, long hair falling down her neck, helmet ornamented with serpent on bowl.
Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕℵ?Σ/ SELEUKOU Nike standing left, holding wreath in right hand and stylis in left; in left field, monogram .
Literature
BMC The Seleucid Kings of Syria - cf. 4, 37 (AX instead of the Aramaic letters)
A. A. Houghton & C. C. Lorber, Seleucid Coins. A Com- prehensive Catalog. Part 1: Seleucus I through Antiochus III, New York/Lancaster, 2002, 195 (this coin)
B. Kritt, The Early Seleucid Mint at Susa, Classical Numisma- tic Studies 2, Lancaster, Penn., 1997, p. 126, AH (this coin)
E. T. Newell, "The Coinage of the Eastern Seleucid Mints from Seleucus I to Antiochus III", NS 1, New York, 1938, - cf. 417 (AX instead of the Aramaic letters)
P. Iossif, "Les Monnaies de Suse frappées par Séleucos Ier", NAC QT 33, 2004, pl. I, 2 (this coin)
M.-M. Bendenoun, Coins of the Ancient World, A Portrait of the JDL Collection, Tradart, Genève, 2009, 34 (this coin).
Condition
Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. A coin of great fascination and historical impor- tance. Minor marks, otherwise extremely fine.

Provenance
Société de Banque Suisse SA 21, Basel 1989, lot 85.
Outside of Ptolemaic Egypt it was unusual for any Greek kingdom to produce high denomination gold or silver coins. Even under Alexander III, whose gold distaters are not infrequently encounte- red, it must be noted that they are significantly rarer than his staters. The large gold coins of the Seleucids are similarly rare, and were issued only infrequently. Under Seleucus I they are limited to dista- ters and double-darics, and under later kings they occur only as octodrachms issued by Seleucus II, Seleucus III, Antiochus III, Cleo- patra Thea & Antiochus VIII, and Antiochus, the son of Seleucus IV.
This issue of distaters is the only one known for any Seleucid king, and represents a single emission at a single mint. It bears the familiar Alexandrine stater-type that often was called into service by Seleucus I, though in this case it bears the king's name rather than that of Alexander, which suggests it was struck after 305/4 B.C., when Seleucus I claimed the title basileus. The location of its mint
is unknown, though Houghton and Lorber agreed with Newell that it likely was in Cappadocia or Syria, with the former authors also suggesting it could have been in Northern Mesopotamia.
Because of its rarity, it is clear that large-denomination gold in the Seleucid world was issued only for special occasions. Houghton and Lorber suggest that because this mint produced both distaters and staters, it must have been "a center of commercial or strategic importance." The possible occasions for this distater include the defeat of Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301, the elevation of Antiochus I as co-regent in 294, and perhaps even the defeat of Lysimachus at Corupedium early in 281, which had occurred just seven months before Seleucus himself was murdered.