Seleukid Coins

Antiochos III

Silver coin  •  References

Identification Number A03-AR-01
Mint:	“Rose” mint (northern Mesopotamia, perhaps Edessa1)
Period:	c. 213 - c. 205 BC
Denomination:	AR Tetradrachm
Weight:	16.91 g
Diameter:	25 - 27 mm
Obverse:	Diademed head of Antiochos III right; dotted border
Reverse:	‘[Β]ΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ’ right, ‘ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ’ left (“of King Antiochos”); nude Apollo seated left on omphalos2, holding arrow in outstretched right hand and resting left hand on bow; monogram in outer left field
Die Position:	c. -15º
References:	Houghton and Lorber, SC I, 1121.1 (this coin plated); Houghton, CSE, 1052 (this coin); Newell, ESM, 392 (same obverse die); Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., Triton X (January 9, 2007), Lot 394 (same obverse die)
Notes:	(1) Antiochos III’s coins attributed to the so called “Rose” mint include one series of gold staters (royal portrait / elephant; SC I, 1120), two series of silver tetradrachms (royal portrait / Apollo seated on omphalos; SC I, 1121 and 1122) and three series of bronze coins (head of Antiochos III as Apollo / Artemis huntress; SC I, 1123, 1124 and 1125). The mint received its name from some issues of silver tetradrachms which have a Rose symbol in the outer left field of the reverse (SC I, 1121.2 and 1122.1).3 For a discussion of the location of this mint and of the period of its activity, see Houghton and Lorber, SC I, Volume I, pp. 424 - 425.
	(2) Although all tetradrachm issues of the “Rose” mint are described without a reverse border in SC I, the coin sold by Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. (Triton X, Lot 394) has a dotted border on both sides. The published examples probably have somewhat shorter flans so that this issue was not fully described in SC I and in the other cited references. However, it is also possible that the CNG coin is a new variant of this issue.

¹ A city in northwestern Mesopotamia (now Urfa in southeastern Turkey).

² The omphalos (“navel” in Greek) was a sacred stone at Delphi. It was supposed to mark the center of the earth. Similar stones were erected in several areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.16.3: What is called the Omphalus by the Delphians is made of white marble, and is said by the Delphians to be the center of all the earth.

³ According to Newell (ESM, p. 145), on the majority of the known specimens, the flower is practically identical in form with the well-known badge of Rhodes. He nevertheless notes that the symbol may have represented not a rose, but a lily.

References:

Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.: Catalogue of the auction Triton X (in conjunction with the 35th Annual New York International Numismatic Convention), January 9-10, 2007.

Houghton, Arthur: Coins of the Seleucid Empire from the Collection of Arthur Houghton. The American Numismatic Society, New York, 1983. (abbr. CSE)

Houghton, Arthur; Lorber, Catharine: Seleucid Coins, A Comprehensive Catalogue. Part I, Volumes 1 and 2. The American Numismatic Society, New York, in association with Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., Lancaster/London, 2002. (abbr. SC I)

Newell, Edward T.: The Coinage of the Eastern Seleucid Mints from Seleucus I to Antiochus III. Numismatic Studies No. 1. The American Numismatic Society, New York, 1978 (reprint of the 1938 original edition with a summary of recent scholarship, additions and corrections by Otto Mørkholm). (abbr. ESM)

Pausanias: Description of Greece. Translated by W. H. S. Jones and H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1918. (The Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.org/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+toc)