Nomos 24

SELEUKID KINGS OF SYRIA. Seleukos I Nikator, 312-281 BC. Distater (Gold, 21.5 mm, 17.27 g, 2 h), uncertain mint in Cappadocia, northeastern Syria or northern Mesopotamia, after 305 BC. Head of Athena to right, wearing triple-crested Corinthian helmet adorned with a serpent on the bowl. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣEΛEYKOY Nike standing left with spread wings, holding a wreath in her right hand and a stylis with her left; at her feet to left, monogram of ΜΑ. HGC 9, 1. SC 55. WSM 1334. Of great rarity, one of five examples known, all struck from the same obverse die, but from two reverse dies. A powerful piece struck in bold relief with a surprisingly individualistic, even masculine head of Athena (an idealised head of Seleukos?). Good extremely fine.

From a European collection, and from the "Triskeles - Moutin" Collection of Santa Barbara formed c. 1995-1998, Roma XVI, 26 September 2018, 380.

Seleukos I produced quite a few gold staters of Alexander type, in the name of Alexander and in his own name, but other gold was extremely uncommon. He produced darics in Babylon (SC 101) and double-darics in Susa and Ecbatana (SC 183, 219), all with a head of Alexander in an elephant's skin headdress on the obverse and Nike on the reverse; all are very rare, indeed. Distaters of Alexander type, like this one, are only known from the present issue. From an uncertain mint, and struck from a single obverse die combined with two reverses, these could not have been intended to play a real part in the monetary circulation of the Empire, and simply must have been struck for celebratory reasons as a form of donative. Two suitable events could have been the foundation of Seleukeia-on-the-Tigris in 305/4 or the defeat of Antigonos Monophthalmos at Ipsos in 301; in both of those cases the coins could have been distributed by Seleukos himself. It has been suggested that this issue could have been struck to commemorate the defeat of Lysimachos at Korupedion in 281; but this seems rather unlikely since the battle took place near Sardes. Thus, striking a donative far to the southeast makes little sense, especially since Seleukos himself was assassinated soon after the battle, and probably would not have had the time to receive and present the coins.