SELEUKID KINGS. Antiochos VII Euergetes (Sidetes), 138-129 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 29 mm, 16.58 g, 1 h), Mallos. Diademed head of Antiochos VII to right; behind, M/A. Rev. [Β]ΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟY - EYEPΓETOY Cult statue of Athena Magarsia standing facing on base, arms outstreched and wearing aegis, holding filleted spear in her right hand; to left and right of her head, star; to lower left and right, monograms. CSE 507 = Houghton, Mallus, 14 (A2/P3) = SC 2059.3a (this coin). Very rare and of great interest. Struck from a somewhat worn obverse die and with some weakness on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.

The sanctuary of Athena Magarsia at Kap Karataş, near the mouth of the Pyramos River, originally belonged to the city of Mallos. However, recent archaeological surveys have uncovered a planned Hellenistic settlement on the site, significantly larger than the old sanctuary and enclosed by a city wall stretching nearly 6 km. Numerous inscriptions identify the city as Antiochia, indicating that Magarsia was refounded by the Seleukids in the late 3rd or 2nd century BC as Antiochia on the Pyramos - most likely as a fortified harbor on a coastline where Seleukid rule was traditionally challenged by the Ptolemies and plagued by rampant piracy. Mallos, by contrast, lay somewhat inland at a still unidentified location, possibly near a bifurcation of the Pyramos, as local Roman provincial coins often depict two river gods swimming beneath the city goddess. The city housed an important royal Seleukid mint, underscoring its continued military significance even after the foundation of Antiochia on the Pyramos. While most of the mint's output retained the standard royal reverse types, a small series issued under Demetrios II and Antiochos VII features the cult statue of Athena Magarsia instead - attesting both to the sanctuary’s importance and the close ties between Antiochia on the Pyramos and its mother city, Mallos