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Tetradrachm - Apodakos
| Issuer | Characene, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 124 BC - 104 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 15.89 g |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Herakles seated to left upon a rocky outcrop, nude, with his lion skin draped beneath him, holding his club resting across his knee in the conventional Seleucid-derived type. A monogram appears in the outer left field, and a regnal date is inscribed in the exergue. The Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΠΟΔΑΚΟΥ surrounds the figure, identifying the issuing monarch. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΠΟΔΑΚΟΥ (Translation: King Apodakos) |
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| Additional information |
Characene was a semi-independent kingdom established in the marshy delta region where the Tigris and Euphrates met the Persian Gulf, nominally subject to Parthian overlordship but functionally autonomous during periods of Arsacid dynastic instability. Apodakos — whose name may carry Iranian etymology — ruled during precisely such a window, issuing tetradrachms in the tradition of Seleucid monetary practice long after Seleucid power had collapsed in the region.
The Sunrise reference places this among a tightly catalogued group; Characene coinage remained poorly systematized until the Sunrise Collection sale of 2012 effectively became the field's working reference.