|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Antiochos I Soter, 281-261 BC, Æ 15 Three quarter right facing laureate head of Apollo.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOY Nike right erecting a trophy; controls outer left and right indecipherable or off-flan.
SC 389; HGC 9, 178 (R1).
Seleukia on the Tigris mint.
(15 mm, 2.67 g, 6h).
Gorny & Mosch 216, 16 October 2013, 2618.
Wonderfully rendered head of Apollo accompanied by a very dynamic Nike; a delightful little bronze! n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Antiochos I Soter, 281-261 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Seleukeia on Tigris Diademed head of the mature Antiochos right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOY (of King Antiochos) Apollo seated left on omphalos, examining arrow held in right hand and resting left on bow, monograms in outer left (ПA) and outer right (HP) fields
SC 379.1; ESM 143; Sear GCV 6866 var.; HGC 9, 128g. Seleukeia on the Tigris mint.
(32 mm, 16.91 g, 1h).
Freeman & Sear.
Antiochos I, the son of Seleukos I came to the throne at age 44, having already been ruler of the Eastern satrapies from ca. 294 BC. Little is known of the detail of Antiochos’ reign other than the fact that he was victorious over Galatian invaders of Asia Minor in 273 BC, which earned him the title of “Soter“(Saviour). He was the first of his line to place his own portrait on his coinage. He also introduced the Apollo on omphalos reverse that became the most recognizable symbol of the Seleukid dynasty. n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Drachm - Susa Helmeted head of Seleukos right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Nike standing right, holding in both hands a wreath that she places on trophy to right; H to lower left, AX in lower middle field.
Marest-Caffety AJN 28, Victory Coinage 2.5, 209 (this coin), dies A10/P11, Pl. 15, 209 (this coin); SC 174.5; HGC 9, 34; BMC 39; CSE 1024; Jameson 1656.
Susa mint 300-295 BC.
(15.5 mm, 4.09 g, 12h).
Triton XVIII, 6 January 2015, 713; ex- Cederlind 106, 17 December 1996, 814; Peus 340, 2 Nov. 1994, Lot 476..
Referred to as the Susa Trophy Series, this coin type has a number of unique and enigmatic attributes. It was only stuck at Susa for a period of about five years between 300-295 BC. The type is rarely found west of the Tigris River and appears to have been largely confined to circulation in Susiana and Persis.
Recent work by Marest-Caffey (AJN 28, 2016) placed this enigmatic issue in its true context. The obverse image is polysemous, incorporating elements of Persian iconography of power into a portrait of Greek style and format. This deliberate ambiguity played to the belief systems of different components of Seleukos’s domain. A Macedonian audience could see this as an image of Alexander the Great, while the Persians could see in the taurine imagery as a reflection of Seleukos himself.
The reverse iconography of Nike erecting a trophy is specifically Greek while the trophy itself bears Greek armour including a shield that prominently bears the Macedonian starburt. The latter fixes the issue after the Battle of Ipsos in 301 BC in which Seleukos played a prominent role in the defeat of Antigonos Monopthalmos.
The ‘trophy’ coinage appears was struck in the period 300-295 BC.
n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Drachm - Susa Helmeted head of Seleukos right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Nike standing right, holding in both hands a wreath that she places on trophy to right; H to lower left, AX in lower middle field.
Marest-Caffety AJN 28, Victory Coinage 2.5, 218 (this coin), dies A14/P13, Pl. 15, 218 (this coin); SC 174.5; HGC 9, 34; CSE 1024; ESM 418γ (this coin).
Susa mint, 300-295 BC.
(18 mm, 4.06 g, 10h).
Roma Numismatics, Feb. 2011; ex- CNG 47, 16 Sept. 98, 533; ex- Giessener 33, 3 June 1986, 217; ex- Naville X, 15-18 June 1925, 799.
VENERATION: The hole in this coin has been carefully placed so as not to damage the obverse image. Extension of the flan to accommodate the hole is evident in the distortion of the once circular dotted border of the reverse, plus a thinner than average metal thickness in this area of the coin, accompanied by hammer marks on the obverse. It appears that a slightly off center obverse coin was chosen for this purpose and the area of the flan outside the struck obverse design was flattened and extended to facilitate the placement of a hole in a manner that would not damage the obverse image. The hole appears to have been punched into the coin from both sides. This is shown by a ridge of metal on the inside of the circumference of hole marking the intersection of the two punches from both sides. The outermost edges of the hole show the most wear, consistent with suspension of the coin from leather band, or chain. The wear of the obverse and reverse of the coin is consistent with the coin being held and rubbed between the thumb and forefinger while on display, perhaps around the neck of the owner. With imagination it is easy conceive that this holed coin may have hung around the neck of a Macedonian veteran in one of the garrisons in Persis, testament to his loyalty to Seleukos, only to be fondly rubbed between thumb and forefinger in the pensive moments over a drink and conversation in off-duty hours.n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Drachm - Susa Helmeted head of Seleukos right, frontal facial features carved from the coin, apparently in an act of damnation.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Nike standing right, holding in both hands a wreath that she places on trophy to right; monogram to lower left, ΔI in lower middle field.
Marest-Caffety AJN 28, Victory Coinage 198 (this coin), dies A4/P4, Pl. 14 198 (this coin); SC 174.4 var. (left field monogram); HGC 9, 34; CSE 1024 var.; ESM 414 var.
Susa mint 300-295 BC.
(16 mm, 3.63 g, 8h).
DAMNATION: The defacement of Seleukos’ image on this coin may be one of the earliest acts of damnation recorded on coinage. A broad deep cut to the coin was made to remove the facial features on the obverse. Unlike a test cut, silver has been carved from the coin, rather than being displaced by a chisel blow. This removal of silver contributes to the current low weight of the coin (0.6 g less than the Attic weight standard). The defacement of the image of Seleukos may have been the result of Persid animosity to Macedonian occupation.n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylon I ca. 308/7 BCHead of Herakles right wearing lion skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛΕΞANΔPOY Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, MI in left K(?)Λ beneath throne.
Price -; SC -. Previously undocumented type best placed immediately following Price 3771 in the Babylon I sequence.
(29 mm, 17.1 g, 9h)
Naville 21, 20 March 2016, 96.
The mint controls and style place this coin as an issue of Babylon, struck immediately after the conclusion of the Babylonian War in 308 BC. This event was associated with the removal of a wreathed mint control monogram associated with Antigonos Monopthalmos from coinage also bearing the left field MI control. The MI control was used on Price 3745- 3771 all of which are associated with the victory wreathed control signifying Antigonos supremacy as strategos of Asia. The KΛ control beneath the throne was previously used on Babylon I issues (Price 3711-3713) struck in the final stage of Seleukos’s first satrapy and in the immediate aftermath of his flight to Egypt. Based on the previous association and usage of these mint controls, this coin most probably represents the last of MI mint control issues, the first after the defeat of Antigonos by Seleukos. In Price’s sequence, it is best placed immediately following Price 3771; the earliest issue of Babylon I under the control of Seleukos following the Babylonian War. n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Babylonia, Uncertain Mint 6A Head of Herakles right wearing lion skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛEΩΣ ФIΛIÎ Î OY Zeus Aëtophoros enthroned left, star symbol beneath throne, Î recut over an earlier mint control in left field.
Taylor, Triparadeisos to Ipsos, Series IV, 189 (this coin), Plate 12, 189 (this coin), dies A50/P1; HGC 9, 11a (same dies); SC 68 (same dies); WSM 1241 (same dies); Price P167 (same dies).
Uncertain Mint 6A in Babylonia, 303-302 BC.
Struck under Seleukos utilising a reverse die from an earlier lifetime Philip issue (Price P160) with the left field mint control recut. Obverse die linked to examples of SC 67 (Alexander), SC 69 (Seleukos) and SC 50.1 (Alexander Uncertain Mint 1) .
One of four examples known and the only one outside the ANS (Newell) collection.
(26 mm, 17.0 g, 3h).
This very late posthumous issue in the name of Philip III is a unique numismatic circumstance. It was struck from a Philip III lifetime reverse die used about twelve years previously, paired to an obverse die that was also used to strike coins in the name of Alexander and Seleukos. This was not a matter of happenstance, but rather a deliberate pairing of dies that symbolically linked the name of Seleukos to the preceding Argead kings in a ritual numismatic statement of legitimacy. This occurred in Uncertain Mint 6A, which by this time was a mobile military mint, attached to the army of Seleukos on the campaign to Ipsos. This ritual symbolic numismatic acclamation of kingship paralleled the acclamation of Seleukos as king by the assembled army in a long-standing Macedonian tradition.
Reference: Taylor, L. W. H. 2015. From Triparadeisos to Ipsos: Seleukos I Nikator’s Uncertain Mint 6A in Babylonia. AJN Second Series 27: 41-97.n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Sardis 282-281 BC Head of Herakles right wearing lion-skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Zeus Nikephoros seated left, EP monogram to left, AΣ beneath throne.
SC 3.3a; HGC 9, 16a; Miller & Hoover AJN 22 (2010), 41 (this coin illustrated on plate 14) dies A1/P7; Nelson "Seleucus I" Hoard (CH 10.265) 726-732 (this coin); WSM 1352 α, A1/ P7.
Seleukos’ military mint at Sardis 282-281 BC.
(25 mm, 17.12 g, 12h).
ex- Commerce "Seleucus I" Hoard (CH 10.265).
This coin was struck in 282 BC following the fall of the city of Sardis to Seleukos, during the preliminaries of the campaign that delivered the decisive victory over Lysimachos at Korupedion, in the late summer of 281 BC. Six months later Seleukos was assassinated aged seventy-seven years.
Struck from the first obverse and seventh reverse die in the series, this coin is interpreted by Miller and Hoover (The Sardes Mint under Seleucus I Nicator) to have originated from a military mint operation associated with Seleukos army. The obverse bears a striking resemblance to the last die used at Seleukeia in Pieria, to the extent that both dies were almost certainly engraved by the same hand. This led Miller and Hoover to propose that …Stylistic affinities between the first die of Sardes and the last of Seleucia in Pieria raise the possibility that the equipment and personnel of the latter may have been moved to Sardes to serve as a supplemental military mint.
The Commerce ("Seleucus I") Hoard 2005 (CH 10.265), from which the coin originates, is believed to have been a part of Seleukos’ treasury at the time he was assassinated by Ptolemy Keraunos. The hoard was found in an undisclosed location in Asia Minor. Its composition is inferred from 1,721 coins in commerce in 2005-06, although the total hoard is believed to have consisted of more than 3,000 coins. The hoard closed around 281 BC at the time of the murder of Seleukos.
References:
Miller, R. P. and O. D. Hoover. 2010. The Sardes Mint under Seleucus I Nicator. American Journal of Numismatics Second Series, 22, 25-34.
Nelson, B. R. 2010 Commerce (“Seleucus I” Hoard) 2005 (CH 10.265). In CH 10, 73-104.
CH 10 = Hoover, O., A. Meadows and U. Wartenberg, eds. 2010. Coin hoards, Volume X: Greek Hoards. New York: Royal Numismatic Society/American Numismatic Society.
n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Seleukeia on the Tigris Head of Herakles right wearing lion skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Zeus Nikephoros seated left, NO in left field.
SC 119.3(a); HGC 9, 16f; ESM 23 (same dies A27-P79); CSE 937 (this coin); CSE 2, 58 (AHNS 1047).
Seleukeia on the Tigris mint ca. 300-296 BC.
(25 mm, 16.91 g, 12h).
ex-William K. Raymond Collection; ex- Arthur Houghton Collection.
Some time in the last five years of the fourth century BC the mint at Seleukeia on the Tigris opened to issue coinage in the name of Seleukos. Initial issues maintained the Zeus Aëtophoros (eagle) reverse image. However, shortly thereafter, the Zeus Nikephoros (Nike) image was introduced in parallel with the Aëtophoros image. The Nikephoros reverse was a direct allusion to Seleukos victory over Antigonos at Ipsos in 301 BC. This is one of three known examples of SC 119.3(a). The others are ESM 23 in the Danish national collection Copenhagen and CSE 2, 58 (AHNS 1047). Seleucid Coins lists another from the Tricala 1979 hoard (CH IX, 000) in the Athens Numismatic Museum, but this is in fact an example of ESM 24 (Zeus Aëtophoros) that was incorrectly catalogued as ESM 23 by Oeconomides - refer Oeconomides Pl. 66, 109. All noted examples are from the same obverse die. The obverse of this coin is a die match to that of a Zeus Aëtophoros issue with identical NO primary control which is now found in the Berlin collection (ESM 24; Newell Pl V, 4).
n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm - Susa Head of Herakles right wearing lion-skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY (of King Alexander) Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, wreath above horned horse head in left field; Boeotian shield to right of wreath; BE above strut of throne.
SC 164.4(b); HGC 9, 10g; ESM 286; Price 3865 (same obv. die); Kritt ESMS S-10 Al.11 same dies A7/P2.
Susa Mint, 311-305 BC.
(25 mm, 16.96 g, 11h).
ex- William K. Raymond collection.
This coin is amongst the earliest issues of Seleukos I Nikator from the mint at Susa. With the addition of Seleukid symbols (in this example a horned horse head) it follows the preceding Susa wreath group struck in the interval 316-311 BC by Aspeisas, under the authority of Antigonos Monopthalmos.n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm - SusaLaureate head of Zeus right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Athena Promachos brandishing spear and shield in a quadriga of horned elephants right, anchor above IΣO monogram in right field, bee beneath.
SC 178.1; Kritt ESMS S-86 El. 43 dies A11/P-; ESM 327; HGC 9, 18c (R1-2). Susa Mint, 283-281 BC.
(25 mm, 17.17 g, 12h).
Freeman & Sear.
An example of the Susa mint transition from biga to quadriga reverse, using an obverse die previously only recorded in the biga series. This obverse die is not found on any of the previously documented (by Newell and Kritt) elephant quadriga coins of the series. It is the only known example that demonstrates an obverse die link between the biga and quadriga emissions. Moreover, the reverse is struck from a die that has some characteristics that suggest it was re-engraved from an elephant biga to an elephant quadriga. As such this coin is amongst the first of the Susa elephant quadriga chariot issues, probably dated to ca. 282 BC. n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm – Carrhae Head of Herakles r. wearing lion-skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Zeus Aëtophoros seated l., wreath and monogram to l., ΛY beneath throne.
SC 42.5; HGC 9, 12a (R2-3); WSM 776 dies A16/P30; Commerce ("Seleucus I") Hoard 2005 (CH 10.265) 1254 (this coin); CSE 2, 16 (AHNS 1026).
Carrhae (Karrhai) after 301 BC.
(26 mm, 17.08 g, 3h).
Roma E-Sale 3 (30 Nov. 2013), lot 290; from "a private American Collection"; ex- Holyland Numismatics (2012); ex- Commerce ("Seleucus I") Hoard 2005 (CH 10.265) #1254.
Carrhae (Karrhai) was Biblical Haran, the home of Abraham, located in southeastern Turkey a few kilometres from the modern-day village of Altınbaşak, on a tributary of the Euphrates River in northern Mesopotamia. A mint was established in the city around 315 BC under Antigonos Monopthalmos, who settled Macedonian veterans in the city. Many of these veterans joined Seleukos when he passed through the city in 311 on his way to reclaim his Babylonian Satrapy, although the city remained under Antigonid authority. After the Battle of Ipsos in 301 BC, the city fell within the Seleukid Empire.
n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm – SardisHead of Herakles r. wearing lion-skin headdress.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Zeus Nikephoros seated l., monogram on shield to l., AΣ beneath throne.
SC 3.1; HGC 9, 16a; Miller & Hoover AJN 22 (2010), 8 (this coin) dies A1/P2; WSM 1350 P2 β, A1/P2 (this coin). Seleukos’ military mint at Sardis 282-281 BC.
(25 mm, 17.07 g, 12h).
Naville Sale XV (2 Jul. 1930), lot 1061.
This coin was struck in 282 BC following the fall of the city of Sardis to Seleukos, during the preliminaries of the campaign that delivered the decisive victory over Lysimachos at Korupedion, in the late summer of 281 BC. This coin is from the first obverse and second reverse die used in the series. It is one of two examples from this die set that survives to this day. The series from which it comes was interpreted by Miller and Hoover (The Sardes Mint under Seleucus I Nicator) to have originated from a military mint operation associated with Seleukos army. The obverse bears a striking resemblance to the last die used at Seleukeia in Pieria, to the extent that both dies were almost certainly engraved by the same hand. This led Miller and Hoover to propose that "Stylistic affinities between the first die of Sardes and the last of Seleucia in Pieria raise the possibility that the equipment and personnel of the latter may have been moved to Sardes to serve as a supplemental military mint."n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm – Uncertain Mint 4Head 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.
n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, Æ 19 - Antioch on the Orontes ca. 290 BC Male figure (Dionysos as patron god of war elephants) seated on rock holding ankh (elephant goad).
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Horned elephant head right, [Ξ] in exergue.
SC 25; HGC 9, 78; CSE 12; WSM 929.
Struck ca. 290 BC.
(19 mm, 6.47 g, 12h).
Perhaps a few dozen examples of this coin type have survived to this day. This coin may have come from the same recently uncovered hoard, which saw five examples with identical patina come to market ove a period of eighteen months. Newell in WSM recorded seven specimens of this coin type, which he interpreted to be the last issue under Seleukos at Antioch, struck in celebration of Seleukos' victory over Lysimachos at Korupedion in 281 BC. Recently, Lorber and Houghton in "An Early Seleucid Bronze Hoard" (Israel Numismatc Journal 17, 2009-10, p. 15-33) convincingly re-interpreted the obverse motif with an association to the Battle of Ipsos and a probable dating to ca. 290 BC.
n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, Æ 19 - Antioch on the Orontes ca. 290 BCMale figure (Dionysos as patron god of war elephants) seated on rock holding ankh (elephant goad).
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Horned elephant head right, [Ξ] in exergue.
SC 25; HGC 9, 78; CSE 12; WSM 929.
Struck ca. 290 BC.
(19 mm, 7.09 g, 12h).
Perhaps a few dozen examples of this coin type have survived to this day. This coin may have come from the same recently uncovered hoard, which saw five examples with identical patina come to market ove a period of eighteen months. Newell in WSM recorded seven specimens of this coin type, which he interpreted to be the last issue under Seleukos at Antioch, struck in celebration of Seleukos' victory over Lysimachos at Korupedion in 281 BC. Recently, Lorber and Houghton in "An Early Seleucid Bronze Hoard" (Israel Numismatc Journal 17, 2009-10, p. 15-33) convincingly re-interpreted the obverse motif with an association to the Battle of Ipsos and a probable dating to ca. 290 BC.n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, Æ 20 - Antioch on the OrontesWinged head of Medusa right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKY (sic) Indian humped bull butting right, control mark Ξ in exergue.
SC 21.2(b); CSE 9; WSM 925; SNG Spaer 23; HGC 9, 92a; Sear GCV 5852.
Struck ca. 286-281 BC at Antioch on the Orontes.
(20 mm, 7.06 g, 2h).
Note the misspelled legend, missing the letter O in the genitive of the king's name; the only known example of this apparently unrecorded error.
This coin type was produced at many mints across the Seleukid Empire in the last years of Seleukos’ reign. The bull on the reverse is an allusion to a story about Seleukos’ prowess related to us in Appian: "He (Seleukos) was of such a large and powerful frame that once when a wild bull was brought for sacrifice to Alexander and broke loose from his ropes, Seleukos held him alone, with nothing but his bare hands, for which reason his statues are ornamented with horns."
On the frequency with which this coin type appeared at mints across the Seleukid Empire in the final years of Seleukos I, Newell commented that "Such a widespread coinage of a single type would seem to hint at some effort on the part of the central government, towards the end of the reign, to coordinate what had hitherto been a remarkably diverse selection of types on the bronze coinage of the empire. If such an effort was really made, it proved to be but of short duration. For under Antiochus I and his immediate successors, the bronze types again became extremely varied as between mint and mint. Apparently the authorities in charge of several mints were at liberty to select such types for the minor coins as appeared the most appropriate to them. This is one of the reasons why the Seleukid coinages possess so strong an appeal; in contrast, for instance, to the tiresomely narrow range of Ptolemaic types, with their eternal Ammon, Zeus or Isis heads and their never ending eagle reverses.
n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC, Æ 21 - Apamea on the Axios Elephant standing right.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Bridled horned horse's head left, anchor beneath.
SC 35; HGC 9, 79; CSE 415; WSM 1128; SNG Spaer 50-52; SNG Copenhagen 40; Sear GCV 6850.
Apamea on the Axios Mint 300-281 BC.
(21 mm, 7.86 g, 12h).
Seleukos I established Apamea on the Axios (a tributary of the upper Orontes River) in Syria around 300 BC. Named in honour of his Baktrian wife, Apama, it was developed on the site of the former Macedonian military colony of Pella. It became the primary Seleukid military depot and arsenal. In Apamea, Seleukos maintained his 500 war elephants and more than 30,000 horses to serve the needs of his cavalry, as well as an arsenal of weaponry and facilities for the manufacture of arms. For the next five generations, Seleukid military campaigns were mounted from Apamea.
The coin type is rare, with all known find locations being located in Syria, but with no control, or design linkages to any other emission from the Seleukid Syrian mints of the time. Newell placed this coin as the sole issue of Apamea during the reign of Seleukos I. This attribution was based on the absence of any linkage to any other Syrian mints and the iconography of the coin, which he felt reflected the military role and significance of Apamea. In the obverse he saw the war elephants, which were the pride of Seleukos’ army, while in the reverse he saw a reference to the powerful Seleukid cavalry, both of which were based at Apamea.
The iconography of the coin bears a striking similarity to the tetradrachm issues of Pergamon in Seleukos name in 281 BC, following the defeat of Lysimachos in the Battle of Korupedion. This short-lived emission is unique. Newell believed that it was possibly inspired by the Apamea bronze coinage, suggesting that the latter may have been struck at the time Seleukos was assembling his forces at Apamea for the decisive encounter with Lysimachos. Some of these coins may then have accompanied his soldiers into Asia Minor, eventually to find their way with his soldiers to Pergamon, where the type served as the model for the brief silver emission celebrating Seleukos’ victory at Korupedion. n.igma
|
|
Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I, 305-281 BC, Æ Double - Baktria, Uncertain Mint 19 (Baktra ?)Head of Dioskouros right, wearing a wreathed pilos, all within dotted border (partially visible).
BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY (barely legible) Forepart of horned and bridled horse galloping right, anchor above, circled ΠYMH monogram to right.
ESM 749d var. (obverse monogram); Kritt SCB 45 variant (monogram detail); SC 269.4 var.; HGC 9, 87.
Struck 290/86-281 BC at Houghton & Lorber's Uncertain Baktrian Mint 19 probably Baktra.
(20 mm, 7.76 g, 7h).
This is one of the first Baktrian bronze coins to bear the name of the Seleukos. Twenty-one bronze coins with this iconography are known. Seventeen of these are listed in Kritt’s Seleukid Coins of Baktria catalogue, all attributed to Mint A (Baktra). Kritt noted that one similar coin (Kritt Group 7, 40) was found in the Ai Khanoum excavations. This specimen he considered to be a Mint A (Baktra ?) product, transported to Ai Khanoum in the pattern of trade of the time. Following Kritt’s reasoning, Seleucid Coins attributed this coin type to Uncertain Mint 19 (Kritt’s Mint A), perhaps Baktra, in the period 290/86-281 BC. n.igma
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
