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Chalkon - Seleukos I Sardes
| Issuer | Seleucid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 312 BC - 280 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing right, the helmeted head of Athena is depicted in three-quarter view, wearing a crested Attic helmet adorned with a serpent coil at the bowl. The hair falls in loose locks beneath the helmet rim, rendered in a fluid Hellenistic style. The surface of the field is plain, with no surrounding legend. The portrait is boldly conceived, characteristic of early Seleucid bronze coinage struck at Sardes under Seleukos I Nikator. |
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| Reverse description | A bull charges to the right, depicted in a vigorous, naturalistic Hellenistic style with musculature carefully rendered. The Greek inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ appears above and ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ below or around the bull, identifying the issuer as King Seleukos. On certain specimens (SC1 6.1), the control mark ΣΙ is placed between the hind legs of the bull, while others (SC1 6.2) bear no initials. The exergue is plain, and the overall composition is typical of early Seleucid bronze issues from the Sardes mint. |
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| Additional information |
Seleukos I founded his dynasty following the fragmentation of Alexander's empire after Ipsos in 301 BC, and Sardis — a former Lydian royal capital and Persian satrapal seat — was among the western mints he controlled during the consolidation of Seleucid territory in Asia Minor. Bronze issues of this period functioned as small-denomination civic currency, filling the gap left by the near-total displacement of Persian and Achaemenid fractional coinage. The mint at Sardis likely operated intermittently under shifting administrative pressures as Seleukos contested western Anatolia with Lysimachos through the 280s.