Very Rare Countermarked Didrachm

CNG 97, Lot: 295. Estimate $300. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Demetrios II Nikator. Second reign, 129-125 BC. AR Didrachm (21mm, 5.94 g, 12h). Tyre mint. Dated SE 184 (129/8 BC). Diademed and draped bust right; c/m: PIH in rectangular incuse / Eagle standing left on prow left; palm frond behind; to left, monogram above club surmounted by Tyre monogram; to right, A(ΣY monogram) above ΓΠP (date); ZB monogram between legs. SC 2196.2a; Rouvier 1933; HGC 9, 1125; DCA 232. For c/m: SC II, vol. II, p. 164, 4, and p. 168, 14. Coin: Fine, toned, some light scratches; c/m: VF. Very rare.

From the Patrick H. C. Tan Collection.

The countermark used on this issue is also known on Tyrian didrachms of Antiochos VII (cf. SC p. 168, 12). Y. Meshorer thought that the countermark noted year 118 of the civic era of Tyre (9/8 BC), and was used to validate coins as “Jerusalemite” Tyre half shekels that were suitable for paying the Temple tax (cf. “One hundred ninety years of Tyrian shekels” in Studies Mildenberg, pp. 178–9). However, the discovery of similar monograms marked IH, rather than PIH (cf. SC p. 168, 13), cast doubt on this interpretation, as does the fact that this countermark is not found on any Tyrian didrachms issued before Antiochos VII or after Demetrios II. It is more likely that these countermarks were applied late in the second reign of Demetrios II, or shortly after the Tyre received its autonomy in 125 BC. The purpose of using such a countermark at this time, though, remains unknown.