177, Lot: 123. Estimate $150. Sold for $525. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Antiochos VII Euergetes (Sidetes). 138-129 BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 4.09 g, 12h). Tarsos mint. Diademed head right / Sandan standing right on back of horned, winged animal standing right; [monogram to outer left], ΔI monogram to outer right. Babelon, Rois -; SNG Spaer -; Houghton I 479 (this coin). VF, toned. Struck on excellent metal. Extremely rare Sandan issue for Antiochos VII.

Ex Arthur Houghton Collection, 479.

Tarsos had been a Seleukid mint nearly from the beginning of the kingdom's existence, and the reverse types of the early kings mainly followed the traditional Seleukid types, such as Apollo and Nike. Alexander I Balas introduced the Sandan type, honoring the local deity, on both his tetradrachms and drachms. As an usurper, Balas may have added the type in a bid to win-over the population at Tarsos. The type proved so popular that it was continued by all the following Seleukid kings. Nevertheless, these issues, particularly the drachms, are extremely rare until the reign of Alexander II Zebina. Fewer than ten Sandan drachms are known for Antiochos VII.