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Seleukid Coins

Antiochos VI

A06-AE-01, obverse A06-AE-01, reverse

Identification Number A06-AE-01

Mint: Antioch on the Orontes¹

Period: 144 - 142 BC²

Denomination: AE Serrated Unit

Weight: 8.81 g

Diameter: 20 - 21 mm

Obverse: Diademed, radiate head of Antiochos VI right wreathed with ivy; dotted border

Reverse: ‘[Β]ΑΣΙΛΕ[ΩΣ] ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ’ in two lines above, ‘ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΥ’ in two lines below (“of King Antiochos, the Manifest Dionysos”); elephant walking left, holding torch in raised trunk; ‘ΣΤΑ’ above star in right field

Die Position: 0º

References: Houghton, CSE, 249-250; Hunterian Coll. III, p. 76, No. 38; SNG Spaer, 1774-1776; BMC 4, p. 66, Nos. 42-44 (Plate XIX, 12); Gorny & Mosch, Auction 160 (October 9, 2007), Lot 1640 (same obverse die)

Notes: (1) Antiochos VI was around 3 to 7 years old when this coin was struck (for biographical data on Antiochos VI, see the page devoted to his genealogy).

(2) The elephant on the reverse might be an allusion to war elephants which were, according to Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, 13.144) and 1 Maccabees (11.54-56), taken away from Demetrios II.³

(3) Gardner, BMC 4, p. xxxiii, speculates about the monogram ΣΤΑ: By the letters ΤΡΥ and ΣΤΑ, which continually occur on the coins of Antiochus VI., mints are not signified. ΤΡΥ probably stands for Tryphon, and ΣΤΑ for Staphylus, a name which Tryphon may perhaps have assumed as friend and guardian of the young Dionysus, borrowing the name from the King of Assyria who received the god at his court (Nonnus, Dionysiaca, XVIII).

¹ Antioch was founded about 300 BC by Seleukos I Nikator, the founder of the Seleukid Dynasty, and it became the principal capital of the Seleukid Empire. The city was named after a family name Antiochos, passed from his father to his son (Antiochos I Soter). There were a number of other cities by the same name and this Antioch was known as Antioch on the Orontes (i.e. the Orontes River, along which it was located).

² See Newell, SMA, p. 61.

³ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.144: Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon) ... returned out of Arabia into Syria, with the child Antiochus (Antiochos VI), for he was yet in age but a youth, and put the diadem on his head; and as the whole forces that had left Demetrius (Demetrios II), because they had no pay, came to his assistance, he made war upon Demetrius, and joining battle with him, overcame him in the fight, and took from him both his elephants and the city Antioch (Antioch on the Orontes).

1 Maccabees, 11.54-56: After this Trypho (Diodotos Tryphon) returned, and with him the young boy Antiochus (Antiochos VI) who began to reign and put on the crown. All the troops that Demetrius (Demetrios II) had cast off gathered around him, and they fought against Demetrius, and he fled and was routed. And Trypho captured the elephants and gained control of Antioch (Antioch on the Orontes).

References:

Gardner, Percy: Catalogue of the Greek coins in the British Museum, Volume 4: The Seleucid Kings of Syria. London, 1878 (reprint, Arnaldo Forni, Bologna, 1963). (abbr. BMC 4)
Houghton, Arthur: Coins of the Seleucid Empire from the Collection of Arthur Houghton. The American Numismatic Society, New York, 1983. (abbr. CSE)
Houghton, Arthur; Spaer, Arnold (with the assistance of Catharine Lorber): Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Israel I. The Arnold Spaer Collection of Seleucid Coins. Italo Vecchi Ltd., London, 1998. (abbr. SNG Spaer)
Josephus, Flavius: Antiquities of the Jews. Translated by William Whiston. John E. Beardsley, Auburn - Buffalo, 1895. (The Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.org/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=J.+AJ+toc)
1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees (Apocrypha). Revised Standard version, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, http://etext.virginia.edu (1 Maccabees: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Rsv1Mac.html, 2 Maccabees: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Rsv2Mac.html).
MacDonald, George: Catalogue of Greek Coins in the Hunterian Collection, University of Glasgow. Volume 3. Further Asia, Northern Africa, Western Europe. Elibron Classics, Adamant Media Corporation, 2003. Replica edition of the edition published by James Maclehose and Sons, Glasgow, 1905. (abbr. Hunterian Coll. III)
Newell, Edward T.: The Seleucid Mint of Antioch. Chicago, 1978 (Obol International reprint of the New York 1918 original edition). (abbr. SMA)

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Identification Number A06-AE-01
Mint:	Antioch on the Orontes¹
Period:	144 - 142 BC²
Denomination:	AE Serrated Unit
Weight:	8.81 g
Diameter:	20 - 21 mm
Obverse:	Diademed, radiate head of Antiochos VI right wreathed with ivy; dotted border
Reverse:	‘[Β]ΑΣΙΛΕ[ΩΣ] ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ’ in two lines above, ‘ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΥ’ in two lines below (“of King Antiochos, the Manifest Dionysos”); elephant walking left, holding torch in raised trunk; ‘ΣΤΑ’ above star in right field
Die Position:	0º
References:	Houghton, CSE, 249-250; Hunterian Coll. III, p. 76, No. 38; SNG Spaer, 1774-1776; BMC 4, p. 66, Nos. 42-44 (Plate XIX, 12); Gorny & Mosch, Auction 160 (October 9, 2007), Lot 1640 (same obverse die)
Notes:	(1) Antiochos VI was around 3 to 7 years old when this coin was struck (for biographical data on Antiochos VI, see the page devoted to his genealogy).
	(2) The elephant on the reverse might be an allusion to war elephants which were, according to Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, 13.144) and 1 Maccabees (11.54-56), taken away from Demetrios II.³
	(3) Gardner, BMC 4, p. xxxiii, speculates about the monogram ΣΤΑ: By the letters ΤΡΥ and ΣΤΑ, which continually occur on the coins of Antiochus VI., mints are not signified. ΤΡΥ probably stands for Tryphon, and ΣΤΑ for Staphylus, a name which Tryphon may perhaps have assumed as friend and guardian of the young Dionysus, borrowing the name from the King of Assyria who received the god at his court (Nonnus, Dionysiaca, XVIII).