Hello All, Figured I would share a nice little bronze of Seleukos IV from Syria. Nothing too fancy, but a nice portrait of Apollo on the obverse with a neat A over B monogram behind. I am a big fan of Greek Provincials with monograms of some sort. I am not always certain what they mean or anything so I am always open to learning but I find them incredibly cool in the meantime. Seleucid Kings of Syria Seleukos IV King: 187 - 175BC 22.0mm 9.50gr 0h O: NO LEGEND; Laureate head of Apollo, right. R: BASILEVS SELEUKOY; Apollo standing left, holding arrow, leaning on tripod. Antioch Mint Exergue: Obverse: A over B monogram, behind bust. SC 1315; HGC 9, 584. Bust out those Seleucid coins!
It's been a long time since I picked up a Seleucid coin, here's my last one ...from 2015! SELEUKID KINGS OF SYRIA. Philip I Philadelphos, 95-83 BC. Tetradrachm. Antioch. O: Diademed head right. R: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ ΕΠIΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΦIΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ. Zeus seated left with Nike and sceptre: Control: monogram. SNG Israel 2799. Condition: Very fine. Weight: 15.7g. Diameter: 26 mm.
Last year one of my first ancient coin purchases was Antiochus IV Ephiphanes which meant “God Manifest” or as his people called him Epimanes for “The Mad One”.
Nice coins guys! I admit I have a harder time than I want to have when I look these up on wildwinds. How do you find these fellas, just by name alone? That is really tough for me when I have an unknown king and common devices.
First off, that's a really nice coin@nicholasz219 I agree, it can take some real detective work to identify Seleucid bronze coins. Having the ruler's name legible really helps. There are only three names that the rulers of the empire used with any regularity: Antiochus, Seleukos, and Demetrius. Also, the style of bronze helps narrow it down. The serrated coins, like the one you have, appeared during the reign of Seleukos IV Philopator and were minted by a number of his successors. From there it really takes a lot of searching on wildwinds and looking at a lot of coins before busts and reverses become familiar.
@TheRed Thanks for the response. A lot of times when I am doing miserable coin by coin searches because no easily useable reference exists, I wonder if I am crazy and doing it wrong or if it is just the same crappy process all of us use. From the sound of it, the latter is the case.
Nice one @nicholasz219. Here's my most recent Seleukid SELEUKID EMPIRE. Demetrios II Nikator. Second reign, 129-125 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26.5mm, 13.91 g, 1h). Tyre mint. Dated SE 184 (129/8 BC). Diademed and draped bust right / Eagle standing left on prow, with palm frond over shoulder; to left, monogram above club surmounted by Tyre monogram; to right, monogram above ΔΠP (date); monogram between legs.
Often they represent the workshops the coin came from and can aid in identifying mints and dating of the coins. Though the control marks are not always known what they represent. Maybe you mis-typed but these are NOT provincials, they are official Greek coins of the Seleukid empire started by a military officer of Alexander the Great. Provincials were not produced until the annexation by Rome. The internet is terrible for identification, but can be helpful for pricing. The best reference right now is Selucid Coins often sold by CNG. They go for around $400 for the set which can be a bit much for a casual collector. Handbook of Syrian Coins: Royal and Civic Issues, Fourth to First Centuries BC [The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 9 would be also helpful, I picked up mine for around $70. To add to @TheRed short list of kings would be Alexander Zabinas and Alexander Balas but there are more. Of the 30+ rulers I am still missing 5. My last coin of last year. Antiochus III Mint: Antioch on the Orontes Series I 223 to 187 BC Obvs: Laureate head of Antiochus as Apollo right. Dotted border. Revs: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY, Apollo seated left on omphalos testing arrow and resting left hand on grounded bow. Control mark ¥ outer left. 23x24mm, 11.96g Ref: SC Vol.1 1048.1a; HGC 10, 466(R2) And the OP coin. Seleucus IV Antioch 187 to 175 BC AE 23, Serrate Obvs: Apollo right laureate. Revs: BAΣIΛIEΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY, Apollo standing holding arrow in right hand and resting left elbow on tripod. AB and control mark in left field 23mm, 9.8g Ref: v. SNG Isr.122.851, SC 2 1315.7f If anybody gets stuck you can always pm me, Seleucids are one of my main interests. Someday I will have to dedicate a site to list the hundreds of different types.
@David@PCC so your coin looks similar to mine but numbers for references are different. Was mine misattributed or what differences are there between them? Sorry for lack of knowledge on my part.
How did you come by your #? There are dozens of controls for this type each with a sub number, 1315 is just a general number. I believe the obverse monogram is correct, which ones do you see on the reverse, I can't make out. Would be in the same location as mine.
The number is the one provided by the seller. Again, since I didn't know what constituted a large enough change to make a coin go from "variety" to "new coin number" I did not correct the number because I wouldn't know how to correct it. The A and B on the obverse is conjoined where the A has a v-like shape for the cross arm. The B is of very thin and long design descending from the middle of the small v shape in the A above. The reverse has what appears to be a delta in the left field at about hip/thigh height by Apollo. Anything below that shape is indecipherable.
It would be 1315.6X or 1315.7X but to narrow it down any further is not possible without knowing the reverse control. There are almost 40 possibilities with those 2 reference numbers with most of them having a delta or A.
Well, that is better than nothing. I will see if better light will help me decipher mishmash of shapes.
@David@PCC It looks like there might be a B coming down from underneath the delta on the reverse. Other than that I can not make anything out.
