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Tetradrachm - Seleukos IV Philopator Ake-Ptolemais
| Issuer | Seleucid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 187 BC - 175 BC |
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| Reference(s) | SC#1.1331, SNG Spaer#928 |
| Obverse description | Diademed head of Seleukos IV Philopator facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic portrait tradition with finely detailed curling hair and a royal diadem tied at the back. The effigy displays strong, idealized facial features characteristic of late Seleucid portraiture, with a prominent nose and well-defined jaw. The coin's irregular flan is bordered by a fine dotted border partially visible around the periphery. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Seleukos IV inherited an empire financially gutted by the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BC, which imposed an annual indemnity of 1,000 talents on the Seleucid state payable to Rome — a burden that consumed roughly half of royal revenues for the remainder of his reign. The mint at Ake-Ptolemais, on the Phoenician coast, was one of several provincial mints kept active specifically to service these obligations, producing silver at scale when the Antioch mint alone could not meet demand.
His reign ended not in battle but in assassination by his own chancellor Heliodoros in 175 BC, the same minister depicted in a famous Delphic inscription attempting to loot the Jerusalem Temple treasury just years prior.