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Dichalkon - Alexander I Balas
| Issuer | Seleucid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 149 BC - 147 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Helmeted head of Athena facing right, wearing a Corinthian helmet adorned with a crest, rendered in the Hellenistic style characteristic of Seleucid bronze coinage. The facial features, though worn, display the idealized goddess effigy typical of mid-second century BC Syrian mint production. The field is plain, with no surrounding legend, the entire design area devoted to the divine portrait. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, consistent with hand-struck bronze issues of this period. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Alexander I Balas seized the Seleucid throne by claiming to be a son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes — a claim widely doubted in antiquity and almost certainly fabricated, reportedly promoted by Attalus II of Pergamon and others who wanted a pliable pretender against Demetrius I. Rome recognized him diplomatically in 152 BC, lending the fiction enough credibility to hold. His reign lasted only until 145 BC, when Demetrius II and Ptolemy VI Philometor combined against him. Bronze civic issues of this type circulated in Syria during that narrow, unstable window before the dynasty lurched into its next dynastic war.