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Octodrachm - Antiochos III Megas
| Issuer | Seleucid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 197 BC - 192 BC |
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| Composition | Gold |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Apollo seated in left profile upon the sacred omphalos, his nude figure rendered with Hellenistic elegance. In his extended right hand he holds an arrow, while his left arm rests upon a grounded bow at his side. A monogram appears in the left field, serving as a mint or magistrate control mark. The Greek royal legend runs along the upper and lower periphery of the reverse field. The composition reflects the standard Seleucid reverse type, evoking the dynasty's divine patronage under Apollo. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Antiochos III earned the epithet "Megas" — the Great — partly on the strength of his eastern *anabasis*, a decade-long campaign through Bactria, Parthia, and India that deliberately echoed Alexander. The gold octodrachm issues of his later reign coincide with his most ambitious western moves: the crossing into Thrace and Greece, which brought him into direct collision with Rome. That confrontation ended at Thermopylae in 191 BC and catastrophically at Magnesia in 190 BC, after which the Peace of Apamea stripped him of his war elephants, his fleet, and most of Asia Minor.
Gold issues of this type are rare survivals — the Seleucid economy ran predominantly on silver — making the SC 1040 octodrachm one of the more consequential denominational rarities in the Hellenistic series.