Extremely Rare Issue

348, Lot: 316. Estimate $100. Sold for $260. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Antiochos I Soter. 281-261 BC. Æ (12.5mm, 1.43 g, 7h). Uncertain mint in Mesopotamia or further east. Horned horse head right / Upright anchor; monograms flanking. Cf. SC 377 (larger denomination, possibly correction to monogram [see below]); cf. HGC 9, 175 (same); CNG 97, lot 284. Fine, green-brown patina, chipped in a couple spots, some roughness and cleaning marks. Extremely rare denomination for series, only the CNG 97 piece published.

The size and weight of this coin fit the criteria for SC’s bronze denomination D. Previously, only coins of denomination B and C were known for this series. This coin has the same left-side monogram as SC 377, but may also correct the reading for the right-side control mark. Due to the relatively poor state of preservation of the published examples of SC 377 (WSM pl. XIII, 13–4; CSE 1309; and TT&A 165–6), the right-side control is mostly unclear in their illustrations, but was thought to be a retrograde B. What is visible in the illustrations of those examples is compatible with the monogram on the present coin.