Sale: Triton VI, Lot: 444. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 13 January 2003.  Sold For $4250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of CAPPADOCIA. Ariarathes VII. 116-101 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.44 gm). Eusebeia-Tyana mint. Diademed head of Antiochos VII of Syria right / BASILEWS ARIARAQOU FILOMH TOROS, Athena standing left, holding Nike in right hand, shield and spear in left; monograms in outer left field, O-L flanking Athena; all within wreath. Simonetta pg. 35, note 1 = O. Mørkholm, "The Coinages of Ariarathes VI and Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia" in SNR 57 (1978), pg. 149, 1 = Alram 157 = De Callataÿ pl. 44, P (same reverse die). EF. Unique. ($5000) 

This fascinating coin is the fifth known tetradrachm of Ariarathes VII. All five specimens share the same reverse die (for the others, cf. above references; Leu 52, lot 108; Giessener Münzhandlung 102, lot 306; and Gorny & Mosch 114, lot 137). Unlike the others, however, the present specimen has an obverse portrait that is clearly that of the Seleukid King Antiochos VII (138-129 BC). Mørkholm, in SNR 57, notes the obvious Seleukid flavor of these tetradrachms, and speculates that the engraver was from Antioch. Interestingly, there is a tetradrachm issued in the name of Antiochos VII at “Antioch” which bears the same reverse type, including the control marks, with the sole difference being the king's name and epithet (cf. Newell SMA 298 = BMC Seleukid Kings pg. 71, 24). The most plausible explanation for our coin is that it was struck at a mint (presumably in Cappadocia) that had been striking posthumous tetradrachms in the name of Antiochos VII. When Ariarathes VI died, the mint needed to strike a special tetradrachm in the name of the new king, Ariarathes VII. As the die engraver had no model for the new king’s portrait, a die of Antiochos VII was employed for the obverse, with a new reverse die in the name of Ariarathes. When the image of Ariarathes VII became known, a die was cut with Ariarathes’ own portrait, and it is this second die which was used to strike the previously known tetradrachms of Ariarathes. The present transitional issue is therefore of considerable interest, enabling us to re-assign and redate the associated issue in the name of Antiochos VII which bears the same control marks. This coinage of Antiochos VII, which Newell gave to Antioch, must have been struck posthumously in a Cappadocian mint, although the reasons for such a coinage are yet to be resolved.We wish to thank A. Houghton for assistance in cataloguing this lot.