Tetradrachm - Alexander I Balas Ake-Ptolemais

Alexander I Balas seized the Seleucid throne by claiming to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes — a lineage almost certainly fabricated, and one that Rome and Pergamon nonetheless endorsed purely to destabilize Demetrius I. His reign was underwritten by Ptolemy VI of Egypt, who initially gave him a daughter in marriage before switching sides back to Demetrius II mid-conflict. The mint at Ake-Ptolemais, a Phoenician port city with deep Ptolemaic ties, was a natural choice for striking his coinage given that political alignment.

Balas was killed in 145 BC following battlefield defeat, his head sent to Ptolemy VI — who died of his own wounds days later.