SELEUKID KINGS. Antiochos II Theos, 261-246 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 17.15 g, 12 h), Kyme. Diademed head of Antiochos II to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - ANTIOXOY Herakles seated left on lion skin draped on large rock, holding club set on his left foot in his right hand and leaning left on rock; between Herakles' legs, monogram of AP; in exergue, cup and two monograms. SC 505.5a. WSM 1524β. A magnificent piece, beautifully struck on a very broad flan and with a wonderful portrait. Tiny scuff on the reverse edge, otherwise, extremely fine.

Under Antiochos II, royal coinage was increasingly also minted in Anatolian mints, a result of the consolidation of Seleukid rule in northwest Asia Minor and the military activities during the Second Syrian War. Some of these mints can be clearly identified by their civic symbols (see also Lot 304 below). In the case of our wonderful tetradrachm piece, it features a one-handed cup, the emblem of the city of Kyme. Notably, under Antiochos II, the principal god of the dynasty, Apollo (especially associated with Didyma), was occasionally replaced on his Anatolian tetradrachms by the image of a resting Herakles. Perhaps the image of Herakles, more warrior-like than Apollo but conveying strength and security through his calm repose, was meant to express both power and stability at a time marked by intense conflict with the Ptolemies and uprisings in the eastern parts of the empire