Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 848. Estimate $4000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $4000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Antiochos I Soter. 280-261 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.81 gm). Sardes mint. Struck circa 276-272 BC. Diademed and horned head of Seleukos I right / Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding bow; monogram to inner left and in exergue. SC 323.2b; cf. SNG Spaer 231; WSM 1366. VF, light scratches and minor porosity on reverse. Very rare. ($4000)

The Seleukid royal court was resident in Sardes during the period 276-274 BC and occasionally thereafter until about 271. The city was a convenient center for operations against rebellious cities in Asia Minor and conflicts with Egypt over the possession of Syria. During this period, Antiochos struck a series of tetradrachms honoring the memory of the founder of the dynasty, Seleukos I with a remarkable portrait. Seleukos is shown as an elderly man, with a lined, time-worn face, but also with the horn signifying divinity and the unruly locks of hair similar to those of Lysimachos that reveal Alexander's claim to godhood. Seleukos is both the mortal who conquered Asia and the descendant of the semi-divine Alexander who established a world empire. Antiochos makes clear is intention to preserve that legacy.