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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Pavlos, post: 7805378, member: 96635&quot;]Very nice coins! And on top of that some great background as usual! It doesn&#039;t matter if it is a common or rare coin, or an expensive or cheaper coin, you always make it extra interesting.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is my Tryphon example:</p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/bkqPIhB.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b>Diodotus Tryphon (142 - 138 B.C.). Æ Denomination B/C, Antioch mint.</b></p><p><b>Obverse:</b> Diademed head of Tryphon right.</p><p><b>Reverse:</b> BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ TPYΦΩNOΣ AYTOKPATOPOΣ (“of King Tryphon, the Self-Empowered”); Spiked Macedonian helmet with cheek guards facing left, adorned with wild goat&#039;s horn above visor.</p><p><b>Reference:</b> SC 2034</p><p><br /></p><p>The helmet on the reverse was actually clever &#039;propaganda&#039;. Demetrios II arrived in Syria with a mercenary army and crushed Alexander I Balas near Antioch-on-the-Orontes in 145 BC. He, or the mercenary commanders who surrounded him, seem to have been concerned about the loyalty of the Syrian army to the new regime. Almost as soon as Demetrios II was on the throne he took the ill-advised step to disband and disarm the troops who had served the Seleukid house for generations.</p><p><br /></p><p>Apamea-on-the-Orontes was the major Seleukid arsenal and military settlement in Syria, it may very well have been the place to which many of the disaffected soldiers had returned. These soldiers served as I mentioned before the Seleukid house for generations, in Macedonian style. Many of these soldiers had forefathers of the old military class that made up the Syrian army in the time of Seleukos I (and perhaps even Alexander the Great).</p><p>Tryphon made use of these angry soldiers and proclaimed Antiochos VI as king and raised the disaffected soldiers in revolt against Demetrios II. On his coins (and even the coins of Antiochos VI, see his drachms) he put a big Macedonian helmet to show is support and affection to these disaffected soldiers (a smart move). This is how Tryphon managed to become so powerful with many followers.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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