107, Lot: 88. Estimate $75. Sold for $45. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Demetrios II Nikator. First reign, 146/5-139 BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 3.74 gm, 1h). Uncertain mint in Northern Syria (Syria Seleukis). Dated SE 173 (140/39 BC). Diademed head right / [B]ASILEW[S] DHMHTRIO[U] QEOU FILADELFOU NIKATOROS, cornucopiae; to inner right, DT monogram above GOR (date). SNG Spaer -; Babelon -; BMC Seleucid -; Houghton 874 var. (same obverse die; dated SE 171); Petrowicz Collection (Naville X, 15-18 June 1925) 1198 (same obverse die). Near VF, toned, minor porosity. Exremely rare; second known dated SE 171.

This coin is part of a very rare series of dated drachms struck from an uncertain mint in Northern Syria (Syria Seleukis), apparently denoted by the DT monogram on the coins. There are coins known for the years SE 171-174, but the purpose of this series is currently unknown.