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Stater - Seleukos I Nikator Babylon
| Issuer | Seleucid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 311 BC - 305 BC |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Nike standing facing left, rendered in high relief with large outstretched wings spread symmetrically behind her. She holds a long stylis (naval standard) upright in her right hand and extends a wreath forward in her left hand. She wears a chiton belted at the waist, and her hair is pinned up. The legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ runs in two lines flanking the figure on left and right. In the lower field, a monogram within a wreath appears to the left of the figure, and the mint control mark ΜΙ is placed to the right, identifying the Babylon mint emission. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΜΙ |
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| Additional information |
Seleukos I had no kingdom when these coins were struck — only a reclaimed satrapy. After fleeing to Egypt following Antigonus's seizure of Babylon in 316 BC, he returned in 312 BC with a small Ptolemaic force and retook the city, an event the Seleucid royal calendar later commemorated as Year One of the Seleucid Era. The Babylon mint resumed striking almost immediately, producing gold at Alexandrine weight standards to pay troops and project legitimacy in a city that had changed hands violently four times in a decade.
By 305 BC, Seleukos had taken the royal title. These staters predate that moment — struck by a general who had not yet declared himself king.