Seleucid coinage
Encyclopedia
The coinage of the Seleucid Empire
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...

is based on the coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

s of Alexander the Great, which in turn were based on Athenian coinage of the Attic weight. Many mints and different issues are defined, with mainly base and silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 coinage being in abundance. The symbol of Seleucid power was the anchor, which was placed on the obverse of coins depicting Alexander posthumously but prior to the issue of coins portraying Seleukos I around 306 BCE.

Denominations

Bronze coinage was issued in five denominations; the weight and size varies greatly and most likely no effort was made to conform to a set standard, they may be denominated in chalkoi.:
  • A size = 23+ mm = 10+ gm
  • B size = 18-23 mm = 6.77-8.63 gm
  • C size = 13-17 mm = 3.88 gm
  • D size = 12-13 mm = 1.59 gm
  • E size = 10-12 mm = 1.13 gm

Silver coinage come as follow:
  • With the denomination based on the Obol
    Obol
    Obol may refer to:* Obolus, a type of silver coin used in Ancient Greece* Obol , a programming language* Obol Investment, a Swedish company involved in a major fraud scandal...

    /And image most common on the coin.
  • 1 Obol
    Obolus
    The obol was an ancient silver coin. In Classical Athens, there were six obols to the drachma, lioterally "handful"; it could be excahnged for eight chalkoi...

    = = = Anchor and Bow and Quiver.
  • 2 Diobol
    Obolus
    The obol was an ancient silver coin. In Classical Athens, there were six obols to the drachma, lioterally "handful"; it could be excahnged for eight chalkoi...

    = = = Bow and Quiver
  • 3 Hemidrachm = 13 mm = 1.87 gm =
  • 6 Drachm = = 4.10 gm = Anchor
  • 24 Tetradrachm
    Tetradrachm
    The tetradrachm was an Ancient Greek silver coin equivalent to four drachmae. It was in wide circulation from 510 to 38 BC.-History:Many surviving tetradrachms were minted by the polis of Athens from around the middle of the 5th century BC onwards; the popular coin was widely used in transactions...

    = = = Elephant walking

  • Coins with the head of Zeus
    Zeus
    In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

     on the reverse and Athena
    Athena
    In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...

     in elephant car. These coins are of a lighter Phoenician standard, which were circulated in India prior to Alexander the Great's conquest.

Mints

Starting from Seleukos I, these mints were most likely a continuation from before his reign.
Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

: to ?
Seleucia on the Tigris
Seleucia on the Tigris
Seleucia , also known as Seleucia on the Tigris, was one of the great cities of the world during Hellenistic and Roman times. It stood in Mesopotamia, on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the smaller town of Ctesiphon, in present day Babil Governorate, Iraq.-Seleucid empire:Seleucia,...

: to ?, Susa
Susa
Susa was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran. It is located in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris River, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers....

:, Ecbatana
Ecbatana
Ecbatana is supposed to be the capital of Astyages , which was taken by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidus...

:, Apamaea mint:, Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

:, Aï Khanoum
Ai-Khanoum
Ai-Khanoum or Ay Khanum , was founded in the 4th century BC, following the conquests of Alexander the Great and was one of the primary cities of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom...

, Seleucia in Pieria:, Arados:, Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...

:, Marathus:, Cyzicus
Cyzicus
Cyzicus was an ancient town of Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peninsula , a tombolo which is said to have originally been an island in the Sea of Marmara only to be connected to the mainland in historic...

, Lampsacus
Lampsacus
Lampsacus was an ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitted in the nearby modern town of Lapseki.-Ancient history:...

, Abydus
Abydos, Hellespont
For other uses, see Abydos Abydos , an ancient city of Mysia, in Asia Minor, situated at Nara Burnu or Nagara Point on the best harbor on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont. Across Abydos lies Sestus on the European side marking the shortest point in the Dardanelles, scarcely a mile broad...

.

Designs for each denomination

The coins have many images, including the King with a lion head dress, or Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

 on a throne with a sceptre and eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

 in each hand. Bronze coins usually didn't feature the King's image, but mostly a god or goddess and in some cases a charging bull and anchor.

Under Seleukos I Nicator (Satrap 311–305 BC, King 305 BC–281 BC), as the first king, the coinage varieties are similar to Alexander the Great's, with the king's head wearing a lion skin, except that the wording was different, with BASILEWS SELEYKWS or BASILEWS SELEUKOU. After 300bce, the head of this King is portrayed in a similar style to other Greek coinage.
Obverses
  • 1:Alexander, Seleucos or Dionysos in helmet covered with a panther skin & adorned with bull's ears & horns, panther skin tied around neck.
  • 2:Head of Herakles wearing lion's skin headdress.
  • 3:Head of Apollo
    Apollo
    Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

     facing right
  • 4:Young Heracles.
  • 5:A naked male figure seated facing left on a rock, holding an ankh in his right hand.
  • 6:Dioskouros
  • 7:Athena
    Athena
    In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...

     wearing an Attic helmet.
  • 8:Winged head of Medusa
    Medusa
    In Greek mythology Medusa , " guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone...

     facing right.

Reverses
  • 1:Zeus
    Zeus
    In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

     enthroned left, holding eagle and sceptre
  • 2:Athena advancing right, brandishing a spear
    Spear
    A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

     & holding a shield
    Shield
    A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....

  • 3:Bull
    Bull
    Bull usually refers to an uncastrated adult male bovine.Bull may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Bull , an original show on the TNT Network* "Bull" , an episode of television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...

     butting right. On bronze coins
  • 4:Athena over elephant.
  • 5:Boeotian
    Boeotian
    Boeotian may refer to:* The people from Boeotia, a region of central ancient Greece* One of several sub-dialects of the Aeolic Greek dialect of the Greek language, spoken by the Boeotians....

     shield between Nike
    Nike (mythology)
    In Greek mythology, Nike was a goddess who personified victory, also known as the Winged Goddess of Victory. The Roman equivalent was Victoria. Depending upon the time of various myths, she was described as the daughter of Pallas and Styx and the sister of Kratos , Bia , and Zelus...

     & trophy
    Trophy
    A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and serves as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics...

  • 6:Forepart of a horse facing right with an anchor
    Anchor
    An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...

    above.


Antiochus I Soter (co-ruler from 291, ruled 281–261 BC)Coins Designs are much the same as the above ruler, in featuring the many Greek gods and the King's head; the style seems to evolve in the future.

External links

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