After a long long run of Athenian New Styles I couldn't resist this dated
tetradrachm of
Alexander Balas to add to my other 6
Seleukid royal
portraits.
Actually he was an usurper and
had no royal blood but claimed to be the son of Antiochos 1V, ( he called himself
Theopator, meaning "He who
his father is God"..the cheek!), and became the
Romans and Pergamenes
choice for the
Seleucid throne after Demetrios 1
Soter looked to be a too capable a ruler.
He killed Demetrios in battle and settled down to a short life of debauchery ( he also called himself
Euergetes, meaning benefactor...really was deluded),!. But ,of course, in
his turn Demetrios' son came for the throne and Balas got killed himself. Not a
good time for the Seleukids!
This coin is dated in the
exergue 
(166) of the
Seleukid era that translates to 147/6 BC. Also a
mint mark 
is there also.There is also a
mint mark of
inside a
in the inner left
field at Zeus's knee height.
I have looked in
acsearch and
CNG research but cannot find the exact modern SC references. Any offers ?
Thanks for looking,
Cicerokid
PS
Nikos has supplied the following translation of the titles and epiphets and the whole legends reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ , translated as " of
King Alexander, Benificent son of a God ".
Thanks Nikos
