Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Tetradrachm - Alexander I Balas Seleucia Pieria
| Issuer | Seleucid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 152 BC - 146 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Diademed and laureate head of Zeus facing right, rendered in an archaizing style with a full beard and long undulating curls falling about the neck and shoulders. The portrait displays a strong classical influence characteristic of Seleucid royal coinage, with finely engraved facial features set within a broad, slightly irregular flan. The field is plain with no surrounding legend. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Seleucia Pieria |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Alexander I Balas seized the Seleucid throne by claiming — almost certainly falsely — to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Rome and Pergamon backed him anyway, finding him useful against the incumbent Demetrius I. His reign lasted six years before a coalition of enemies, including his own father-in-law Ptolemy VI, turned against him. He died in 145 BC fleeing into Arabia, his severed head sent to Ptolemy as a diplomatic courtesy.
Seleucia Pieria was the dynastic port city, and coinage struck there carried particular prestige. The SC 1783 attribution places this issue within the early-to-mid portion of his reign.