Seleukid Coins

Seleukos II

Silver coin  •  Bronze coin  •  References

Identification Number SE2-AR-01
Mint:	Antioch on the Orontes1
Period:	c. 244 - 226 BC
Denomination:	AR Tetradrachm
Weight:	17.08 g
Diameter:	28 - 29 mm
Obverse:	Diademed head of Seleukos II right; dotted border
Reverse:	‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ’ on right, ‘ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ’ on left (“of King Seleukos”); Apollo standing left, testing arrow and resting left elbow on tall tripod; control marks in inner left and outer right fields
Die Position:	0º
References:	Houghton and Lorber, SC I, 689.1a; Le Rider, Antioche, p. 62, No. 18, Plate 6.17 (dies A2/P9); Newell, WSM, 991

Identification Number SE2-AE-01
Mint:	ΔΕΛ mint associated with Antioch mint2
Period:	246 - 226 BC
Denomination:	AE Unit
Weight:	3.26 g
Diameter:	15 - 16 mm
Obverse:	Diademed head of Seleukos II right; dotted border
Reverse:	‘[Β]ΑΣΙΛΕ[ΩΣ]’ above, ‘[Σ]ΕΛΕΥ[ΚΟΥ]’ below (“of King Seleukos”); horse trotting left, two stars above and ‘ΔΕΛ’ monogram3 under belly
Die Position:	0º
References:	Houghton and Lorber, SC I, 710a; Newell, WSM, 1163; SNG Spaer, 434-435; BMC 4, p. 17, No. 16 (Plate VI, 5); Hunterian Coll. III, p. 25, No. 12

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 The ΔΕΛ mint was opened in the period between the death of Antiochos II in 246 BC and the arrival of Seleukos II in Syria in c. 244 BC (the period of occupation of Northern Syria by Ptolemy III). It continued in operation through the reign of Seleukos II, was inactive under Seleukos III, and experienced a final short-lived revival under Antiochos III. All indications point to a close association of this mint with Antioch: perhaps it was a separate workshop within the mint, or a branch mint in a different quarter of the city, or in a suburb such as Daphne. For details, see Houghton and Lorber, SC I, Volume I, pp. 227, 258 and 403.

3

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; 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)

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)

Le Rider, Georges: Antioche de Syrie sous les Séleucides. Corpus des monnaies d’or et d’argent. Vol. 1: De Séleucos I à Antiochos V, c. 300-161. Institut de France, Paris, 1999. (abbr. Antioche)

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 Coinage of the Western Seleucid Mints from Seleucus I to Antiochus III. Numismatic Studies No. 4. The American Numismatic Society, New York, 1977 (reprint of the 1941 original edition with a summary of recent scholarship by Otto Mørkholm). (abbr. WSM)