SELEUKID KINGS OF SYRIA. Demetrios I Soter, with Laodike IV, 162-150 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 16.31 g, 1 h), Seleukeia on the Tigris. Jugate busts of Demetrios I, diademed, and Laodike, draped and wearing stephane, to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - ΔHMHTΡIOΥ - ΣΩTHPOΣ Tyche seated left on throne, holding short scepter in her right hand and cornucopiae in her left; to left, monogram and palm branch; all within oak wreath. HGC -. SC -. Unpublished and unique. A very interesting issue and an important addition to the Seleukid coinage. Somewhat rough, otherwise, very fine.


This important new addition to the very rare coinage of Demetrios I with his sister-wife Laodike IV places the reverse within an oak-wreath, unlike SC 1686-1689, which have a simple dotted border only. Why this was done is unclear: was it a victory issue, or perhaps a short-lived Seleukid reflection of the emergence of the famous Stephanophorc coinage in the Aegean region in the 160s and 150s BC?