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Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm – Uncertain Mint 4
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Head of Herakles right wearing lion-skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ reading up on left, ΣEΛΓYKOY (misspelled with Γ rather than E) reading down on right, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, ΣΕ monogram to left, circled ΜΗY monogram beneath throne.
SC 60.2; HGC 9, 12d (R2-3); WSM 1342 (same obverse die).
Uncertain Mint 4 in Cappadocia, Eastern Syria, or Northern Mesopotamia 301-281 BC.
(26 mm, 17.15 g, 5h).
Naville 21, 20 March 2016, 97.
Seleucid Coins (p. 33) notes the declining competence exhibited by reverse dies in the series to which this coin belongs. This is a characteristic along with the mint controls, shared with some of the later issues of Uncertain Mints 6A/1, perhaps pointing to the mobile military nature of the mint and resultant variable access to skilled engravers. The misspelled legend fits with this observation.
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