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Dichalkon - Alexander II Zabinas
| Issuer | Seleucid Empire |
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| Year | 128 BC - 122 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Radiate head of Alexander II Zabinas facing right, depicted with curly hair adorned with a radiate crown, rendered in the Hellenistic portrait tradition. The effigy is set within a beaded border. The serrate flan edge is characteristic of this bronze issue. No legend appears on the obverse. The portrait style reflects the influence of Ptolemaic and late Seleucid artistic conventions. |
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| Reverse lettering | BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEXANΔΡOY (Translation: King Alexander (II)) |
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| Additional information |
Alexander II Zabinas seized the Seleucid throne by presenting himself as the adopted son of Antiochus VII — a claim almost certainly fabricated, backed militarily by Ptolemy VIII of Egypt, who found a malleable pretender more useful than a strong Seleucid neighbor. His coinage was struck across a relatively short reign that ended when Ptolemy withdrew support, leaving Zabinas exposed to Demetrius II's son Antiochus VIII Grypus. Zabinas reportedly looted temple treasuries to pay his troops in his final months, a detail recorded by Justin that suggests his bronze issues circulated under increasingly desperate fiscal conditions.