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Greek Coins :
Archive : Silver Tetradrachm Minted Under King Seleukos III
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Silver Tetradrachm Minted Under King Seleukos III - C.563
Origin: Syria
Circa: 226
BC
to 223
BC
Collection: Numismatics
Medium: Silver
Additional Information: Found in Haifa, Israel (HERT) SOLD
Location: United States
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| Description |
Obverse: Laureate Head of Apollo Facing Right
Reverse: Apollo Seated on an Omphalos, Facing
Left, Holding an Arrow, Left Arm Resting on Bow,
Inscription, “BASILEWS,” (BASILEWS or King) on
the Right and “SELEUKOU,” (SELEUKOU or
Seleukos)
The Seleukid Kingdom was established by
Seleukos I, one of the generals of Alexander the
Great, following the death of Alexander and the
division of his empire. At its peak under Seleukos
I and Antiochus I, the Seleucid Kingdom
comprised almost the whole of the conquests of
Alexander with the exception of Egypt. Around
245 B.C., Seleukos III Soter, “the Savior,” son of
Seleukos II Kallinikos found himself facing the
daunting task of restoring to his empire the
lands lost by Antiochos Hierax. At the youthful
age of twenty-five, Seleukos raised an army for
the unavoidable clash with the Attalid King
Attalos I of Pergamon. At the same time, he
dispatched his younger brother, Antiochos III, to
maintain control of the eastern satrapies. In 224
B.C., Seleukos III crossed the Tauros River, into
Attalid territory, and the battle with the
Pergamene army began. It is believed the
Attalids may have had support from Ptolemaic
Egypt, who fought over territory with the
Seleukids. It is unclear how the war played out,
but in the summer of 223, for reasons that are
now lost to history, a conspiracy involving a
Macedonian officer and a Galatian chieftain
claimed the life of the young king. With the
sudden poisoning death of his elder brother, the
royal authority fell to the youthful Antiochos III
and his guardian, Achaios.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or your purse? What eras and lands have
the coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who touched the coin before us, or where the
coin will venture to after us. More than money,
coins are a symbol of the state that struck them,
of a specific time and place, whether currency in
the age we live or an artifact of a long forgotten
empire. This ancient coin is more than an
artifact;
it is a memorial to a lost kingdom passed from
the hands of civilization to civilization, from
generation to generation.
- (C.563)
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