I recently bought a 14mm, 2.960g bronze
Seleucid coin at a
coin show that was labelled as Antiochus IV (photo attached to this post). I was skeptical, as it didn't look like any Antiochus IV that I
had seen before, but the
price was right, so I bought it anyway. After looking through a couple books and doing some extensive searches online, I just can't find any Antiochus IV that matches this coin, so it is definitely another Antiochus.
The
obverse shows Antiochus (as
Apollo?) facing right. He is either diademed or laureate, I can't quite tell (but I think it's laureate), and definitely not
radiate. The
reverse shows
Apollo facing left, seated on an
omphalos, leaning on
his bow with
his left hand and holding out an arrow with
his right. There is a ribbon (or something similar) off the back of
his head. There *may* be something above
his thighs and below
his arm, but I can't quite tell. The
reverse reads:
BASILEWS ANTIOXOY in Greek. There appear to be two
monograms on the far left
side, the lower one is a triangle (delta
), and the upper one appears to be a Y with lines through it (I saw a similar
monogram in
Forum's
catalog listed as a "KZ
monogram," which I am unfamiliar with).
I have found a few similar coins online, but I'm
still unsure as to which Antiochus this is. Here is what I found:
There is an Antiochus I at this link:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/seleucia/antiochos_I/t.html that appears very similar. About halfway down the page, coin # SC 351 appears to have most of the same features. This is the
identification I'm leaning towards, but I'm just not sure.
Here is a photo of a very similar but slightly bigger coin I found in
Forum's
catalog of sold coins:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/zoompgsold.asp?param=82879q00.jpg&vpar=85&zpg=49855&fld=https://www.forumancientcoins.com/Coins2/ (references:
SNG Spaer 206,
Newell WSM 960)
There is an Antiochus II at this link:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/seleucia/antiochos_II/t.html that also appears similar. Again, about halfway down the page, coin # SC 572 has a similar
portrait, but seems to have a slightly different
reverse. I don't think this is the one, but it's similar.
Finally, there is an Antiochus III at this link:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/seleucia/antiochos_III/t.html that shares many features as well. About 1/4 down the page, coin # SC 984 has a similar
portrait and
reverse, but I can't tell if the
reverse has "
BASILEWS" on it. My coin may be this one.
Here is another Antiochus III from
Forum's sold
catalog that is also very similar:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/zoompgsold.asp?param=57104q00.jpg&vpar=85&zpg=69375&fld=https://www.forumancientcoins.com/Coins2/ (reference:
Houghton-Lorber I 1050)
I also found this coin:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/zoompgsold.asp?param=81629q00.jpg&vpar=85&zpg=24852&fld=https://www.forumancientcoins.com/Coins/ (reference:
SNG Spaer 571) on
Forum's sold
catalog that has
Apollo standing, so it's not the same coin, but it appears to have the same "KZ
monogram" as my coin.
So, do any Greek or
Seleucid coin collectors out there have any opinions? Which Antiochus is my coin? And better yet, can anyone
help me come up with a reference for my coin? If there is any other info I can provide, please let me know.
Thanks for your time.
