Damascus Refounded?
The Four Known Types of Demetrias

341, Lot: 2. Estimate $100. Sold for $110. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SYRIA, Coele-Syria. Damascus (as Demetrias?). Circa 95-85 BC. Æ (22.5mm, 10.74 g, 12h). Diademed male head right / Tyche seated left on rock, extending arm and holding cornucopia; [river-god] at feet. De Saulcy 2; BMC 1; SNG München –; HGC 9, 1458. Fine, dusty green patina. Rare.

From the J.S. Wagner Collection.

An association of the coinage in the name of the “Demetrians of the sacred [city]” with Damascus has long been noted, with scholars either placing Demetrias nearby Damascus or arguing that Damascus was refounded as Demetrias under the Seleucid king Demetrius III. The latter theory is supported by both the characteristic Tyche of Damascus type found on the current issue (note the similarity to Damascene coins of Aretas III after the city came under his control around the mid 80s BC and to later issues below), as well as the enclosure of the reverse type within a wreath on lot 5 below, which reappears regularly under Cleopatra VII and continuing into the Imperial period. While the question of whether Demetrias can be equated with Damascus remains unanswered, the clues suggesting that it can be are sufficient enough to warrant the inclusion of her coins here.