COLLECTING SELEUKID COINS By David S. Michaels Having conquered the vast Persian Empire and even far-flung northern India, Alexander the Great returned to Babylon in mid 323 BC and promptly partied himself to death. His generals, the Diadochi (“successors”), slugged it out for supremacy over the next 40 years, shattering the great Macedonian Empire into several large fragments–the so-called Successor Kingdoms.
Seleukos I
By far the largest and most populous of these was founded by Seleukos Nikator (“victor”), Alexander’s charismatic infantry commander, who proclaimed himself King in 305 BC. His realm sprawled across 2 million square miles, from southern Asia Minor to the Hindu Kush of modern Pakistan, encompassing hundreds of cities and tens of millions of subjects from dozens of ethnicities, including Persians, Armenians, Assyrians, Medes, Jews, Arabs, Afghans, Indians, Scythians and, of course, Greeks. It survived, in some form, for two and a half centuries.
Following the trail blazed by Alexander and employing vast stores of bullion “liberated” from Persian treasuries, Seleukid rulers produced an extensive coinage in gold, silver and bronze from dozens of mints. Yet, until fairly recently, it remained a rather overlooked realm of numismatics, overshadowed by other Classical and Hellenistic Greek states, particularly the neighboring Ptolemaic Egypt. The tide began to shift in the late 1960s, when Seleukid coins found a champion in Arthur A. Houghton III, scholar Antiochos IV Epiphanes and diplomat, who assembled an extensive collection and authored several monographs and books on the subject. The last 20 years have witnessed an explosion of scholarship devoted to Seleukid coinage, providing collectors and historians alike with excellent, deeply researched references to guide them. These include the monumental Seleucid Coins, Parts I and II, by Arthur Houghton, Catherine Lorber, Oliver Hoover, and Brian Kritt, and the compact and useful Handbook of Syrian Coins (HGC Series 9) by Hoover. Only this year, the American Antiochos VIII Epiphanes Numismatic Society launched its “Seleucid Coins Online” website, an invaluable website devoted to the series. (Grypos) Consequently, collectors at every level have discovered the Seleukid series and brought this attractive and historically illuminating coinage long-overdue attention. The coins themselves provide an astounding “facebook” of rulers, often with portraits of great artistry and near-photographic realism. These rulers are an eclectic and colorful lot, with both heroes and villains, the brilliant and indolent, the decent and tyrannical, the enlightened and decadent. Mostly men are depicted, although a few ferocious women left their mark as well. Seleukid coins are widely available in every price range, from $10 small bronzes to exceptionally rare and beautiful gold pieces that have achieved auction prices in excess of $275,000. The most widely available denomination is the silver tetradrachm, usually weighing about 16-17 grams and between 25 and 30 millimeters in diameter. A pleasant VF tetradrachm of a common ruler can cost less than $200, with particularly artistic portraits priced at a premium. Rarities, of course, run much more. However, a modest investment in time and money can thus produce a collection of large, impressive coins spanning an exciting and transformative era in history, when east did in fact meet west, and produced something beautiful. 4