321, Lot: 192. Estimate $150. Sold for $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Tryphon. Circa 142-138 BC. AR Drachm (17mm, 3.91 g, 12h). Antioch mint. Diademed head right / Spiked Macedonian helmet with cheek guards, adorned with wild goat’s horn above visor; monogram to inner left. SC 2033e; HGC 9, 1060. VF, toned, porous, edge split, metal flaws. Rare.

A military commander and leading supporter of the usurper Alexander I Balas, Diodotos placed Antiochos VI on the Seleukid throne following Balas' death. Two years later, upon the death of the young king, Diodotos took the throne himself, supposedly upon the acclamation of his troops. Unlike previous usurpers, Diodotos did not fabricate his lineage into the Seleukid house, but maintained that the Seleukid line had ended, and his was the beginning of a new era. He broke tradition by assuming the title autocrat rather than king, and took the name Tryphon ('the magnificent'). His reign proved very unpopular, and a new Seleukid claimant, Antiochos VII Sidetes, rose against him. Within three years Tryphon was defeated and killed.