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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ed Snible, post: 3635280, member: 82322&quot;]My coin of Alexander Balas does not have a portrait:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]975370[/ATTACH] </p><p>Alexander I Balas. 152-145 BC. Æ (13mm, 2.13 g, 12h). Antioch on the Orontes mint. Struck circa 150-146 BC.</p><p>Obv: Aegis with gorgoneion, within circle of dots</p><p>Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ [ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ]; Pegasos leaping right; monogram below.</p><p>Refs: <i>SC</i> 1792.2</p><p>ex-Classical Numismatic Group, e-auction 426, August 2018, lot 228 </p><p><br /></p><p>Unfortunately the name ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ is missing on my example.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first published example of this type was by Pellerin in 1762. I was never able to figure out how he deduced the coin was Seleukid. It is now attributed to Antioch. No clue why; Newell did not include it in his book on Antioch.</p><p><br /></p><p>Pegasos was mythologically the “child” of Medusa – born from her neck – and Alexander Balas claimed to be the child of Antiochos IV, a king who used the aegis as a coin reverse. It makes sense to strike types related to the types of the claimed father. Balas struck no other coins with Pegasos or the aegis, however. Houghton and Lorber note that thunderbolt iconography is prominent in Alexander Balas’ coinage and Athena is frequently represented on his bronze. The aegis could represent Athena, or thunder (or both I suppose!)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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