ARABIA, Eastern. Gerrha/Thaj (?). Imitations of the coinage in the name of Antiochos III and the series with the name of Shams, circa mid to late 2nd century BCE. Tetradrachm (Silver, 26 mm, 15.35 g, 12 h). Diademed head of Antiochos III to right. Rev. Zeus/Shams seated left on low throne, holding round object from which hangs a zigzag line in his right hand; on the right, near his left hand, eagle with closed wings perched to left. CCK 140 (this coin). Unique. A beautiful coin with an impressive Seleukid portrait and a wonderful adaption of Zeus/Shams on the reverse. Somewhat rough and with a minor graffito of 𐩩 ('t' in South Arabian) on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.


This beautiful coin combines a Seleukid-style obverse - the portrait of Antiochos III - with a reverse clearly based on the ubiquitous Alexander-coinage, thus melding the two main Gerrhaean coin types into one. What makes the issue particularly attractive is the adaptation of the Zeus/Shams reverse, on which the artist placed the eagle behind the god and had him hold a round object in his right hand, from which a zigzag line emerges. Although Huth suggested this represents a libation scene, or perhaps a serpent, it is clearly based on the scepter that Zeus/Shams is holding on earlier coins and the Graeco-Macedonian prototypes, albeit with the eagle and scepter switching places.