KINGS OF CAPPADOCIA. Ariarathes VII Philometor, circa 107/6-101/0 BC (?). Tetradrachm (Silver, 28 mm, 16.51 g, 12 h), in the types of Antiochos VII of Syria. Mint A (Eusebeia-Mazaka), circa 104/3-103/2. Diademed head of Ariarathes VII to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ / APIAPAΘOY - ΦIΛOMH-TOPOΣ Athena standing front, head to left, holding Nike in her right hand and spear and shield decorated with gorgoneion and set on ground with her left; in field to outer left, monogram above A; in field to inner left and right, O-Λ; all within laurel wreath. Callataÿ pl. XLIV, P = Mørkholm, Coinages, pl. 42, 14 (same dies). Houghton & Lorber, Cappadocian, Series 1, Issue 1, 7 (this coin, A3/P2). Simonetta, Coinage, 1 and p. 135, 1 (this coin illustrated). Extremely rare, one of less than a dozend known examples of this very interesting issue, and certainly among the finest. Minor marks and with light deposits on the reverse, otherwise, about extremely fine.

This coin is among the extremely rare tetradrachms of Ariarathes VII, which were not minted in the name of the Seleukid king Antiochos VII (138-129 BC), but instead feature his own portrait and include his name and titulature on the reverse. While the precise duration of Ariarathes VII's reign is disputed, his ultimate fate is not. As the son of Laodike, daughter of Mithridates V, he was a nephew of the famous Pontic king, Mithridates VI Eupator (circa 120-63 BC). After Ariarathes VII was deposed by Nikomedes III of Bithynia in 102 BC, his Pontic uncle restored him to the throne but demanded the return of Gordios, the assassin of the Cappadocian king’s father, Ariarathes VI. When Ariarathes VII refused and war ensued, Mithridates VI sought a meeting with his nephew before the battle to resolve the conflict peacefully. However, he treacherously murdered him in front of both armies and installed his eight-year-old son as Ariarathes IX.