Freeman & Sear - Gemini I, Session 1



      ancient classic artifacts coins numismatic roman greek 



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                        Lot: 199

                        (click on image to enlarge)
                        SELEUCID KINGDOM: Soter coinage. Ca. 246-244 BC. AR 
                        tetradrachm (16.45 gm).

                        SELEUCID KINGDOM. "Soter" coinage (246-ca. 244 BC). 
                        Silver tetradrachm (16.45 gm). DEL Mint, associated with 
                        Antioch. Diademed head of Antiochus I right / SWTHROS 
                        ANTIOCOU, Apollo seated left on omphalos, examining 
                        arrow held in right hand and resting left hand on 
                        grounded bow. SC 641. WSM 1144. Antioche de Syrie 10-21 
                        (obverse die A2). Rare. Slightly rough surfaces, 
                        otherwise good very fine 

                        The rare tetradrachms issued in the name of Antiochus 
                        Soter are something of an enigma. Newell attributed them 
                        to Apamea in the interregnum after the murder of 
                        Antiochus II, conjecturing that they were struck to pay 
                        the troops permanently garrisoned in and around Apamea 
                        while Antioch, the Syrian capital, was occupied by 
                        Ptolemaic troops. He believed that the neutral types 
                        were selected to protect the local authorities 
                        regardless of the outcome of the civil war. Le Rider, 
                        however, rejected Newell's attributions to Apamea. He 
                        tentatively assigned the "Soter" tetradrachms to a mint 
                        closely associated with Antioch, perhaps a second 
                        workshop within the mint or a facility located in an 
                        Antioch suburb such as Daphne; but he left open the 
                        possibility that they might be products of a different 
                        mint, struck later than the interregnum. The entire 
                        issue was struck from just four obverse dies. Le Rider 
                        recorded 34 tetradrachms, as well as a unique gold 
                        octadrachm struck from tetradrachm dies. 
                        Estimated Value: $ 600 




...Sold for $380 USD [ approx 288.8 EUR, 201.4 GBP ] plus 15% buyers fee. 

Gemini I Auction Closed Jan 11-12, 2005. 

Re-used by permission of Freeman & Sear (www.freemanandsear.com) 
                      and Harlan J Berk (www.harlanjberk.com).