| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 32 | Auction date: 7 December 2024 |
| Lot number: 759 Price realized: 3,200 CHF (Approx. 3,648 USD / 3,454 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: SELEUKID KINGS. Antiochos IV Epiphanes, 175-164 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 31 mm, 16.01 g, 12 h), Antiochia on the Orontes, summer-autumn 168. Laureate and bearded head of Zeus to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ANTIOΧOY - ΘEOY / EΠIΦANOYΣ - NIKHΦOPOY Zeus seated left, holding Nike in his right hand and long scepter in his left. HGC 9, 620a. SC 1398. Rare. Beautifully toned and with a beautiful head of Zeus of the finest style. Light porosity and with a minor edge chip, otherwise, very fine. From a West German collection, ex Sternberg XII, 18-19 November 1982, 292. Traditionally linked to Antiochos IV's famous month-long festival at Daphne in 166 BC, this special coinage issue is now believed to commemorate his invasion of Egypt in 168 BC, during which he conquered much of the Ptolemaic heartland. Just as it seemed that Antiochos was poised to revive the waning Seleukid power at the expense of the dynasty's bitter rivals, a Roman delegation arrived, presenting him with an ultimatum: immediate withdrawal or war (the famous 'Day of Eleusis'). Faced with the threat of Roman intervention, the Seleukid king swiftly withdrew, returning with his army to Syria. There, he transformed his humilation into a symbolic victory, commissioning these beautiful tetradrachms coins that featured not his own portrait on the obverse, but that of his patron, the Olympian Zeus. Starting price: 1000 CHF |  |
Match 1:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 32 | Auction date: 7 December 2024 |
| Lot number: 760 Price realized: 460 CHF (Approx. 524 USD / 496 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: SELEUKID KINGS. Antiochos IV Epiphanes, 175-164 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 32 mm, 16.65 g, 12 h), Antiochia on the Orontes, circa 168-164. Diademed head of Antiochos IV to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ / ANTIOΧOY - ΘEOY / EΠIΦANOYΣ - NIKHΦOPOY Zeus seated left, holding Nike in his right hand and long scepter in his left; to outer left, monogram. HGC 9, 620a. SC 1400a. Some smoothing on the king's cheek and with light pitting and minor marks, otherwise, very fine. From a Canadian collection, ex Bertolami E-Auction 105, 21 October 2021, 1086. Starting price: 100 CHF |  |
Match 2:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 32 | Auction date: 7 December 2024 |
| Lot number: 761 Price realized: 800 CHF (Approx. 912 USD / 863 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: SELEUKID KINGS. Antiochos IV Epiphanes, 175-164 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 29 mm, 15.90 g, 12 h), Ake-Ptolemais, summer to fall 168 or slightly later. Diademed head of Antiochos IV to right; below, [two stars]. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - ANTIOXOY Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding arrow in his right hand and resting his left on grounded bow; to outer left, palm frond; to inner left, monogram of AB; in exergue, [monogram]. HGC 9, 620c. SC 1474. Extremely rare. Harshly cleaned and porous, otherwise, very fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. The coinage of Antiochos IV at Ake-Ptolemais was issued to support his invasions of Ptolemaic Egypt in 170-168 BC, the so-called Sixth Syrian War. The present issue is dated by Houghton & Lorber to the summer/fall of 168 BC or slightly later, right after the infamous 'Day of Eleusis', when the Seleukid monarch was humiliated by the Roman emissary, Gaius Popillius Laenas. Victorious on all fronts, Antiochos IV had just invaded Egypt for the second time, captured Memphis and was advancing on Alexandria to annihilate the Ptolemaic Kingdom once and for all, when Laenas arrived on the scene. Worried about a resurging Seleukid superpower, the senator refused to greet the king, drawing a line around him in the sand with a stick and ordering the baffled monarch to chose between immediate withdrawal from Egypt or war with Rome before leaving the circle. Fearing Roman intervention, Antiochus IV backed down and left Egypt immediately. In doing so, he revealed to the entire world that even the most powerful of all Hellenistic states was unwilling and unable to challenge Roman hegemony in its own backyard. Starting price: 200 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 31 | Auction date: 7 September 2024 |
| Lot number: 650 Price realized: 340 CHF (Approx. 403 USD / 363 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: SELEUKID KINGS. Antiochos IV Epiphanes, 175-164 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 29 mm, 16.54 g, 6 h), uncertain mint 80 in Babylonia, Susiana/Elymais or Persis. Diademed head of Antiochos III to right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - ANTIOXOY Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding arrow in his right hand and resting his left on grounded bow. SC 1516. Extremely rare. Retoned and with porosity and roughness on the obverse, otherwise, very fine. Ex Classical Numismatic Group E-Auction 555, 7 February 2024, 187 and Leu Numismatik Web Auction 26, 8 July 2023, 1525 (retoned since). Starting price: 75 CHF |  |
Match 4:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 32 | Auction date: 7 December 2024 |
| Lot number: 762 Price realized: 480 CHF (Approx. 547 USD / 518 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: SELEUKID KINGS. Demetrios I Soter, 162-150 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 28 mm, 16.50 g, 12 h), Antiochia on the Orontes, SE 162 = 151/0 BC. Diademed head of Demetrios I to right within wreath. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ - ΔHMHTPIOΥ / ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ Tyche seated left on throne supported by tritoness right, holding short scepter in her right hand and cornucopiae in her left; to outer left, two monograms; in exergue, ΒΞP (date). SC 1641.8h. SMA 131. Beautifully toned and with a fine portrait. A few very light marks and the obverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, good very fine. From a distinguished Swiss collection, Numismatica Ars Classica Autumn E-Auction, 30 September-1 October 2024, 511. Starting price: 100 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 32 | Auction date: 7 December 2024 |
| Lot number: 757 Price realized: 170 CHF (Approx. 194 USD / 183 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: SELEUKID KINGS. Seleukos IV Philopator, 187-175 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 30 mm, 17.07 g, 12 h), Antiochia on the Orontes. Diademed head of Seleukos IV to right. Rev. BAΣIΛΕΩΣ - ΣΕΛEYKOY Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding arrow in his right hand and resting his left on grounded bow; to outer left, wreath and filleted palm frond. HGC 9, 582d. SC 1313.6a. Lightly toned. About very fine. From a West German collection, formed since the 1960s. Starting price: 75 CHF |  |
