Not sure what the picture/article is but it is an error for me. EDIT: Very nice it's fixed now and as always very well presented! Beautiful coins! Thanks, Jacob
I love the coinage of Antioch. If I were to specialize in the collection coins from just one city, it would be Antioch.
As in the OP, here is one of those so-called "star of Bethlehem" coins: 20-19 mm. 7.70 grams. Head of Zeus right ram leaping right, looking back, star above EΠI ΣIΛANOV ANTIOXEΩN "reign of Silanus (he was legatus) Antioch" ΔM below ram = 44 in the Actian dating system = 13/14 AD RPC I 4269. McAlee 99. Some enthusiasts have tried to connect this type to the Star of Bethlehem, which boosts the value of the type. Scholars seem to think the argument is so thin it is unworthy of comment. That is, most scholars think there is no good reason to connect this type to the biblical story. Edit: See below for a link (thanks, @dadams) to a website that supports the "star of Bethlehem" interpretation.
@Deacon Ray - excellent coins and stunning presentation. You're building quite the collection! I particularly like the first, and you may find this interesting: The Star of Bethlehem -d Edited to add : start at page 48
Lots of interesting variety. You've got all the fascinating civic types, some Seleucid tetradrachms, counterstamped coins from the Pompeian and Caesarean eras (find the Cleopatra counterstamps!), then follows a fantastic portrait series of early emperors on the bronzes with SC reverse. (The celators of Antioch were every bit as adept at lifelike portraits as their imperial counterparts.) Then you've got an entire universe of tetradrachms during the imperial era, and those curious tetrarchical fractional-folles, and then Antioch becomes an imperial mint, and you've got another universe of issues that continues until the fall of the empire. And then you can collect the Byzantine, Islamic, and Crusader coins if that's not enough.
These are righteously cool coins, and might not even be on the radar for the next ancient collector. Just like what I might fall in love with isn't on the radar of someone else. The places to specialize in the ancient coin spectrum seem never ending - and nearly all of them are interesting.
Thanks, @John Anthony for taking time to answer my question and write this explanation. I put Cleopatra counterstamps and other items from your post on my "to-do research" list.
