Alexander I Balas seized the Seleucid throne by claiming to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes — a claim almost certainly fabricated, and one that Roman senator Demetrius later alleged was cooked up with the backing of Attalus II of Pergamon and Ptolemy VI of Egypt, who collectively preferred a malleable pretender to a competent king. He defeated and killed the legitimate ruler Demetrius I in 150 BC, then rapidly squandered whatever political capital his victory earned.
Tyre operated as one of the most productive minting centers under Seleucid administration. The SC 1835.3b attribution places this piece within a tightly sequenced die study, where reverse die linkages help establish the relative chronology of Balas's early regal output.
Alexander I Balas seized the Seleucid throne by claiming to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes — a claim almost certainly fabricated, and one that Roman senator Demetrius later alleged was cooked up with the backing of Attalus II of Pergamon and Ptolemy VI of Egypt, who collectively preferred a malleable pretender to a competent king. He defeated and killed the legitimate ruler Demetrius I in 150 BC, then rapidly squandered whatever political capital his victory earned.
Tyre operated as one of the most productive minting centers under Seleucid administration. The SC 1835.3b attribution places this piece within a tightly sequenced die study, where reverse die linkages help establish the relative chronology of Balas's early regal output.