Seleukid Portraits on Non-Seleukid Coins
Ancient Imitations and Counterfeits
Silver coins • Bronze coin • References
| Identification Number AIC-AR-01 | |
| Mint: | uncertain (probably an eastern mint) |
| Period: | probably 150 - 145 BC1 |
| Denomination: | AR Drachm |
| Weight: | 3.95 g |
| Diameter: | 17 - 18 mm |
| Obverse: | Diademed head of Alexander I right, of barbarous style; dotted border |
| Reverse: | ‘[Β]ΛΣΙΛΕ[ΩΣ] [Α]ΛΕΞΛΝ(retrograde)ΔΡ[ΟΥ]’ right, ‘ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟ[Σ] (Ε?)ΛΕΡΙΕΟ(Υ?)’ left; nude Apollo seated left on omphalos2, holding arrow in outstretched right hand and resting left hand on bow; control marks, if any, off flan |
| Die Position: | c. 25º |
| References: | – |
| Note: | Alexander I’s official drachms of Apollo on the omphalos type bear either the legend ‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ’ (“of King Alexander, Son of a Deified Father, Benefactor”) or its variation ‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ’ (“of King Alexander, Son of a Deified Father and Benefactor”; see Houghton, Lorber and Hoover, SC II, 1813). |
| Identification Number AIC-AR-02 | |
| Mint: | uncertain (probably an eastern mint) |
| Period: | probably 150 - 145 BC1 |
| Denomination: | AR Drachm |
| Weight: | 4.22 g |
| Diameter: | 18 - 19 mm |
| Obverse: | Diademed head of Alexander I right, of barbarous style; dotted border |
| Reverse: | ‘[Β]ΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ [Α]ΙΕΞΑΝΔΙΟΥ’ right, ‘[Θ]ΕΟΓ(?)[ΑΤ]ΟΡΟΣ [Ε]ΥΕΡ[ΓΕ]ΤΟ(Υ?)’ left; nude Apollo seated left on omphalos2, holding arrow in outstretched right hand and resting left hand on bow; control mark in exergue |
| Die Position: | 0º |
| References: | – |
| Note: | This coin is similar to the previous specimen AIC-AR-01, but the reverse inscription is less garbled. |
| Identification Number AIC-AE-01 | |
| Mint: | uncertain southern mint |
| Period: | probably 175 - 164 BC3 |
| Denomination: | AE Unit |
| Weight: | 3.29 g |
| Diameter: | 15.0 - 15.5 mm |
| Obverse: | Diademed, radiate head of Antiochos IV right; crude control mark in left field (“X” ?); fillet border |
| Reverse: | Figure seated left on high-backed throne (?), holding Nike (?) in outstretched right hand, left hand at side; dotted border |
| Die Position: | 0º |
| References: | compare SNG Spaer, 1168 - 1179 |
| Note: | This crude coin is either a barbarous imitation or a contemporary counterfeit.4 It seems that it was modelled on a series of Antiochos IV’s coins issued in an uncertain southern mint and described in SNG Spaer, 1168 - 1179: |
| Obv.: Diademed, radiate head of Antiochos IV right; control mark in left field; fillet border | |
| Rev.: ‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ’ right, ‘ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ’ left; Goddess, wearing polos (?), seated left on high-backed throne, holding Nike in outstretched right hand, left hand at side; at feet a bird to left; control mark beneath throne; dotted border | |
| Sizes and weights of the 12 coins of this series recorded in SNG Spaer range from 12 to 17 mm and from 2.06 to 5.03 g, respectively. Their mean weight is 3.58 g. Nine of them (75%) have vertical die axes. | |
1 Regnal dates of Alexander I.
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 Regnal dates of Antiochos IV.
4 Sayles, Classical Deception, p. 30: There is a fine distinction between contemporary counterfeits of ancient coins and contemporary or later imitations. The former are generally thought of as coins that were produced by individuals for profit motives. The latter served as the official currency of a political entity, and were produced in emulation of another state’s coinage for purposes of politics or trade.