ARABIA, Eastern. Gerrha/Thaj (?). Seleukid portrait series with vertical Shin, circa 205/4-150 BCE. Hemiobol (Silver, 9 mm, 0.36 g, 12 h), imitating Antiochos III (222-187 BCE) and Alexander 'the Great' (336-323 BCE). Diademed head of Antiochos III to right. Rev. Zeus/Shams standing front, head to left, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, 𐩦 ('s²' in South Arabian, vertically). CCK 114 (this coin). Potts (Suppl.) 179f. Extremely rare. A very unusual piece, beautifully toned and of lovely style. Very fine.


Despite this coin's tiny size, it shows a remarkable departure from the standard rendering of the native solar deity Shams in the image of the Greek god Zeus on Gerrhaean coins. Here, Zeus/Shams is shown standing rather than seated, and while he retains Zeus' ubiquitous eagle in his right hand, one wonders whether the change in the imagery has a specific meaning, or instead derives from the small size of the die (but a standing figure does not take up less space than a seated one!).