Silver Tetradrachm of Antiochos (Antiochus) I Soter, Syria, 17.17 g.
Title
Silver Tetradrachm of Antiochos (Antiochus) I Soter, Syria, 17.17 g.
Creator
Antiochos (Antiochus) I Soter, Syria
Date
c. 264 BCE
Description
Obverse: Diademed head of Antiochos facing right
Reverse: Apollo seated on omphalos facing left, holding arrow in right, with left resting on bow and quiver resting against omphalos; monograms in left and right fields; ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ: of King Antiochos.
Style/Period: Hellenistic
Antiochos I of Syria succeeded his father, Seleukos I, the founder of the Seleukid dynasty, in 280 BCE at the age of forty-four. Despite constant revolts and wars throughout his reign, he managed to secure his position and keep the kingdom intact. A great victory over the Galatians in 276 BCE earned him the title Soter or Savior. He was defeated by Eumenes I of Pergamon in 262 BCE and died in 261 BCE.
Antiochos originally retained the old Alexander types on his coins, but he soon began issuing tetradrachms with his own portrait on the obverse. Although the head retains some aspects of Alexander's portrait type, particularly in the arrangement of the hair, it appears to be a realistic portrait of an older man, with emphasis on his deep-set eyes, sharp nose, and pursed lips.
The depiction of Apollo on the reverse initiates the most common Seleukid reverse type. Although he had not put Apollo on his own coins, Seleukos I had established him as the patron deity of the Seleukid dynasty by building a grand shrine to Apollo at Daphni, near the capital, Antioch. The omphalos is criss-crossed with ribbons and refers to the sacred stone of the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi that marked the center of the earth. The god holds his attributes, the bow and arrow, and seems to be testing the arrow in his right hand. These coins were issued by the mint at Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, and the types were continued under Antiochos II.
-- Kristin J. Brainard Addington, LU '94
Bibliography: O. Mørkholm, Early Hellenistic Coinage from the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamea (336-188 B.C.) (Cambridge 1991) 116.
Antiochos originally retained the old Alexander types on his coins, but he soon began issuing tetradrachms with his own portrait on the obverse. Although the head retains some aspects of Alexander's portrait type, particularly in the arrangement of the hair, it appears to be a realistic portrait of an older man, with emphasis on his deep-set eyes, sharp nose, and pursed lips.
The depiction of Apollo on the reverse initiates the most common Seleukid reverse type. Although he had not put Apollo on his own coins, Seleukos I had established him as the patron deity of the Seleukid dynasty by building a grand shrine to Apollo at Daphni, near the capital, Antioch. The omphalos is criss-crossed with ribbons and refers to the sacred stone of the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi that marked the center of the earth. The god holds his attributes, the bow and arrow, and seems to be testing the arrow in his right hand. These coins were issued by the mint at Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, and the types were continued under Antiochos II.
-- Kristin J. Brainard Addington, LU '94
Bibliography: O. Mørkholm, Early Hellenistic Coinage from the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamea (336-188 B.C.) (Cambridge 1991) 116.
Source
Ottilia Buerger bought from Hespeia Art, March 26, 1960.
Identifier
91.090
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Subject
Hellenistic, diadem, Antiochos, Apollo, omphalos, arrow, bow, quiver, Antiochos I Soter, Antiochus I Soter, Syria
Files
Citation
Antiochos (Antiochus) I Soter, Syria, “Silver Tetradrachm of Antiochos (Antiochus) I Soter, Syria, 17.17 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/224.