CELOPATRA THEA & ANTIOCHUS VIII SILVER TETRADRACHM – RARE EMISSION FROM SIDON OF YEAR 192 – XF GREEK SELEUCID COIN (Inv. 20170)

$2,750.00

20170. CLEOPATRA THEA WITH ANTIOCHUS VIII, 126/5–121/0 BC.
Silver Tetradrachm, 16.68 g, 29 mm. Issue of Sidon dated SE 192 (121/0 BC).
Obv. Jugate busts right of Cleopatra Thea, veiled and wearing diadem and stephane, and Antiochus VIII, diademed. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑΣ ΘEAΣ / ΚΑΙ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ; Zeus seated left on low throne, holding Nike in outstretched right hand and scepter in left; in outer left field, monogram; under throne, ΣΙ / ΙΕΡ / ΑΣΥ; in exergue, BϘP (date) and aphlaston.
SC 2268; HGC 9, 1182f.
XF, die cracks on obverse, attractive toning overall, a rare emission with only eight specimens currently listed on CoinArchives.

This beautifully toned tetradrachm is a rare Attic–weight issue struck at the Phoenician mint of Sidon during the joint reign of Cleopatra Thea and Antiochus VIII. Traditionally, Sidon struck Seleucid tetradrachms to the lighter Phoenician weight standard, but on very rare occasions, also produced Attic–weight issues, presumably to pay garrison forces that expected to be rotated out of the closed currency zone of Phoenicia.
After murdering her eldest son, Seleucus, and failing to gain acceptance as sole ruler in 126 BC, Cleopatra Thea raised her younger son, Antiochus VIII Grypus, to be a puppet co–ruler. Unfortunately, he turned out not to be nearly as pliable as Cleopatra had hoped, and in 121/0 BC, she attempted to kill him with a poisoned wine cup. Learning of the plot beforehand, Antiochus VIII, who was also no stranger to the use of toxins, forced her to drink her own poison and subsequently became the sole ruler of the Seleucid kingdom until his half–brother, Antiochus IX Cyzicenus arrived to challenge him for it in 116/15 BC. The present coin was struck in the last year of the joint reign of Cleopatra Thea and Antiochus VIII.