No idea who this is, need your help

I'm stuck with this coin, can't decipher the reverse legend, only know that it is Greek.

Please, I need a hint where I can start looking.
3.64 g; 17 mm

Pictures courtesy Heritage:

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

The reverse type, Apollo seated on omphalos, is typical of Seleucid Syria.

 

The image is too blurry, but this will help narrow it down. Click on Denomination ▼ to sort by AE.

 

Thank you so much @dltsrq and @David@PCC will explore the Seleucids

 

Spent most of the day looking at Seleucid coinage, and at this point they look all the same to me. Need to rest my eyes

Anyway, after going through the Seleucid id site, wildwinds and acsearch, I think - and this is almost an act of faith - that it is an Alexander I Balas drachm like this one:

https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/seleucia/alexander_I/SNGIs_1409.1.jpg

SNG Spaer 1409; Newell SMA 182; HGC 9, 887

Any opinions are most welcome

 

Is this coin in your possession and is it silver?

 

Yes, I have it and it is silver (with patina). I won it recently at Heritage

 

What does the inscription say?

 

I can only read a few letters, that's why I said that my guess Alexander Balas is an act of faith.

These are the letters I can make out:
at right behind Apollo outer legend downwards: ?AΣI Λ??
at right inner legend downwards: ???EAN??

at left in front of Apollo:
inner legend downwards: ΘEOΠ ?A??E E
outer legend downwards: ?? T Y ??

Maybe if I try to clean the coin the legends would be clearer

 

Yes sounds like Alexander I. Would also need to know the controls to narrow down which of the 5 mints it belongs to.

 

The mint in exergue is really very worn. Will try to turn the coin at different angles, and different light, maybe I can see something.

 

Mintmark in exergue from left to right
First letter looks like gamma but the horizontal line is to the left – maybe it is an incomplete T (tau); 2nd, if there is one, is completely illegible; 3rd letter is like a psi or upsilon, 4th letter could be an N, an X (chi) or a Z (zeta), 5th letter looks like T(tau) or P (rho)

 

houghton 179v?

https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/seleucia/alexander_I/Houghton_179v.jpg

I'm only guessing

 

Thank you Kasia.
Houghton 179v has Zeus on the obverse, while the one I have has Apollo; however, the mintmark could be Antioch.

Perhaps HGC 9, 887, but there are apparently no clues for determining the mint; it just says that there are several symbols for the mints. Looking at examples (coinarchives, acsearch, numismatics.org) it seems that even though a mintmark is not readable, Balas' coins are assigned to Antioch

 

Most likely Antioch for which there are dozens of combinations. Will need the control to know the exact date and reference #.

 

Thank you very much David@PCC, I am very grateful for all your replies and precise information.

If the control mark is at left, it is off flan.
If the control letter is in exergue, perhaps the 4th and/or 5th letter are control marks?

However, even if it isn't possible to determine the exact attribution I'm very happy to have this coin of Alexander Balas in my collection. I learned a lot researching it and I will look out for a better exemplar.

 

If dated the only possibility is ΓΞP which is year 163 (150/149 BC). That is the first 3 in the exergue, otherwise there are combinations of 1 or 2 controls as well as some in other fields.

 

Researching at numismatic.org, I noticed that on Seleucid Coins (part 2) 1785 (Antioch) the third word on the reverse legend is ΘEOY, while on Seleucid Coins (part 2) 1871 the third word is ΘEOΠATOPOΣ. Don't know if all these coins from Antioch have ΘEOY while the ones from Ecbatana have ΘEOΠATOPOΣ.
Since the letters on my coin ΘEOΠ ?A??E E have the letter Π maybe it is from the Ecbatana mint?

 

1785 is ΘEOΠATOPOΣ not ΘEOY.

 

Where are you reading it?

At http://numismatics.org/sco/id/sc.1.1785 it says:
Legend: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY ΘEOY EYEPΓETOY