Alexander the Great Tetradrachm | Issue of Seleucus / Seleukos

Description: NGC Ch VF. Strike 5/5, Surface 3/5. No returns. I would love to keep this amazing coin but I'm facing a lot of emergency expenses and am in need of all the extra funds I can get. This coin is actually my first-ever ancient coin, so it would mean a lot for me if it found a loving home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Numismatic Description: SELEUKID EMPIRE. Seleukos I Nikator. Second satrapy and kingship, 312-281 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25.42 mm, 16.97 g). In the name and types of Alexander III “the Great” of Macedon. Babylon I mint. Struck circa 311-300 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; monogram in wreath in left field, MI below throne. SC 82.5a; Price 3746; HGC 9, 10f. Beautiful toning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pedigree/Provenance: Originally purchased from ma-shops.com, from Armin Michael Kohlross, a numismatic dealer from Germany. Rest assured this coin is 100% authentic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Historical Background: The Babylon Seleukos Types, like this coin, are well-known for having some of the most incredible depictions of Alexander the Great/Herakles. This coin has a particularly high relief, and it’s ethereal to look at. Truly a masterpiece in miniature. As stated, this coin was minted in the famed city of Babylon, the capital of Alexander’s empire and the place where he died. Its issuer Seleukos I Nikator is famed for being the progenitor of the Seleukid Empire, the largest and arguably the most powerful of the successor states following the breakup of Alexander’s realm. If anyone was deserving of having the nickname “Nikator,” which means “the Victorious,” it was Seleukos. He was part of the coalition that thwarted the ambitions of Antigonos I Monophthalmos at the Battle of Ipsus, and he is also known for eventually being the last living contemporary of Alexander, having outlasted every other competing Diadoch (he defeated his final rival, Lysimachos, at the Battle of Corupedium). ⚔️ Seleukos’s influence and legacy are so far-reaching, in fact, that the ancient Hellenistic kingdoms, as well as the later Parthians, used a system of numbering years referred to by historians as “Seleucid Era,” abbreviated as “SE.” It is also referred to as “Anno Graecorum,” or the “Year of the Greeks,” abbreviated “AG.” The era dates from Seleukos’s reconquest of Babylon in 312/11 BC, which is around the same time that my coin was minted. The Xi’an Stele or the Jingjiao Stele in China, erected during the Tang dynasty in 781 AD, includes Syriac text that states that it was erected in the “Year of the Greeks 1092.” 📜

Price: 1300 USD

Location: Miami, Florida

End Time: 2024-09-21T02:32:56.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD