Syria, Antioch / Antiochos VIII / AR, 26.5 mm, 16.6 gm / 112-110 BC Obv: Diademed head of of Antiochos VIII right Rev: Zeus standing left within wreath holding star and sceptre, crescent above head with BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY EΠIΦANOYΣ, A in left field Does anyone have knowledge of the symbol above the A in left field? The previous attribution depicts this as Zeus Ouranios on the Rev and I'm curious about this depiction of Zeus. Does the small delta symbol below ANTIOXOY mean anything?
Antiochos VIII evidently has the moniker 'Grypus' which translates to 'hook nose' which this portrait really depicts well!
I could totally buy that. The elongated Phi with a Lambda placed at it's bottom. I would presume that the A below depicts Antioch?
They are called controls, and there are thousands of them. I started a page for Seleucid coins, but still have hundreds to add. Almost all will have either a control or a mint mark. Yours has the phi lambda that @Finn235 alluded to (many I guess on what the monograms include) and could be the initials of a mint worker, some reference to the mint or workshop, ect. We really don't know in many cases. The delta on the right is a secondary control and there are 13 different known just for this type. Could it stand for Antioch? It's possible, but other tetradrachms from this mint exclude an A control.