Got my first Seleucid Tetradrachm of Philip I for 70 EUR. How did I do? Also, any assistance on attribution would be appreciated. I've gotten fairly competent at attributing Romans but this is my Greek coin.
Your coin is a posthumous issue of Philip under Roman rule. Antioch mint. Posthumus issue, sturck circa 69-57 BC. Diademed head right / Zeus Nikephoros seated left; monogram below throne; Φ to inner left; all within laurel wreath border. SC 2488.6 or 2488.7
Congrats on your Tet Love these. To note, I'd classify it as less Seleuicid, and more Roman provincial, because it wasn't struck under Seleucid rule, despite the style.
Congratulations on the tetradrachm - a fine denomination to add to your collection, @acb12345. As with the example below, quite a few characters were squeezed onto the reverse of your coin along with a figure "carrying victory" (Nikephoros). In this case, Athena rather than Zeus. Seleucid Kingdom. Antioch mint. Antiochos IX Eusebes Philopator (Kyzikenos). 114-95 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28 mm, 16.46 g). Diademed head of Antiochos IX right / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ, Athena Nikephoros standing left, holding Nike in her right hand and spear and shield with her left, to left, monogram above A on left, small monogram A on right, all within a laurel wreath border. @Andres2, the light gold toning on your coin is attractive.
@acb12345 Your coin appears to be a Philip Philadelphus from the mint of Antioch SC 2463 (2)k I have one that is similar Philip Philadelphus Ar Tetradrachm Antioch 88/87-76/75 BC obv Head right diademed Rv Zeus Nikephoros seated left holding Nike in outstretched right hand. SC 2463(2) i 15.82 grms 26 mm Photo by W. Hansen Philip was involved in the insanely fratricidal civil war the plagued the Seleukid Kingdom more or less until the Romans came in and made the region into a province of their rapidly expanding empire. He minted coins in large numbers. So much so that when some years later in 57 BC the Roman governor Aulus Galbinus needing some coins to be struck simply copied the coins of Philip. This continued until the series was finally discontinued by Augustus.
That's a nice coin, particularly the reverse, which has a well-centered strike. For the price, at €70, it was a good purchase. There is some roughness due to burial in all likelihood. Do you plan to collect other Seleucid tetradrachms? Many of these Hellenistic coins are quite beautiful. Like other ancients coins that are appealing artistically, historically or due to their higher grade command higher prices, but if you shop around and become familiar with the kings and the coins issued in their names, picking out nice examples, especially for the more common kings, you should be able to acquire some nice coins, such as this tetradrachm of Antiochus VII Sidetes, Tyre, 130-129 BC, which costed $235 (with sales tax) back in 2021.
I am planning on picking for of them up. I absolutely love the portrait style of the Seleucid Kings and I really like that their are no legends on the obverse,
I forgot to mention the OP has the controversy surrounding it as possibly belonging to Philip II Barypous. Aptly named thick footed as well as having some other medical issues that bear some resemblance to the OP portrait. An interesting post by @Pavlos that brought up this issue.