Founder of the Seleucid Empire
Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great’s most prominent generals, founded the Seleucid Empire in 312 BC. It was one of the largest successor states to Alexander’s empire.
His nickname, “Nicator”, meaning “the Conqueror or Victor” emphasizes his achievements in both military conquest and political strategy.
Seleucus founded several cities, of which Seleucia on the Tigris, near Babylon, is the best known. It became an important trading and administrative center within his empire.
Through his alliance with Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire, he received 500 war elephants. These elephants were of great importance to his later military victories.
In 281 BC, Seleucus was assassinated by Ptolemy Keraunos, the son of Ptolemy I, while attempting to reunite Alexander’s fragmented empire by invading Macedonia. Despite his death, the Seleucid Empire he founded endured for over two centuries before succumbing to Roman expansion and internal conflicts.
On MA-Shops you will find his coins. Some coins feature the portrait of Seleukos I himself or they depict Seleukos I as Heracles, a hero closely associated with Alexander the Great.
Other coins show elephants, which Seleukos used in battles.
These coins were not only a means of payment, but also a powerful propaganda tool, helping to establish and maintain Seleukos I’s authority in his empire.
Seleucid Kingdom Tetradrachm ca. 305/4-295 BC Seleucus I Nicator
7,200.00 US$
Catalog: Houghton/Lorber 173.5b
Material: Silver
Weight: 17.05 g
Obverse: male head (Alexander the Great or Seleukos?) with helmet decorated with panther skin, bull’s ear and horns, facing right
Reverse: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ – ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ Nike standing facing right and crowning tropaion, two monograms below
Greeks Seleukid Kingdom Seleucus I Nikator (312-281 BC). GOLD Stater Babylon I. Struc VF+
5,540.00 US$
Material: Gold
Weight: 8.54 g – Diameter: 18.00 mm
Obv: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with serpent.
Rev: AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ / BAΣIΛEΩΣ
Nike standing left, holding wreath and stylis. Controls: MI below left wing; below right wing, monogram within wreath.
Seleukos I Nikator, 312-280 BC – ELAM – AR Tetradrachm, Susa VF-/VF
5,375.00 US$
Catalog: Battle of Ipsus (301 BC)
Weight 16,91gr. | Silver Ø 27mm.
Obv: Head of Seleukos I right, wearing helmet covered with panther skin
and adorned with bull’s ears and horns, panther skin tied around neck
Rev: Nikè standing right, wearing peplos, crowning with wreath military
trophy set on sapling tree, from which branch sprouts near base, consisting
Macedonian arms shield, greaves and helmet, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ at right, ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ at
left AP in lower left field, A? monogram to right, facing head of Helios bust between.
The obverse of this tetradrachm we see a bust of a hero, assimilating King Seleukos I, the deified Alexander the Great and the god Dionysos. He wears a helmet covered with panther skin and adorned with a bull’s horns and ear. All of these are attributes of Dionysus, the god of wine but also of eternal life, who rode about on a panther and could transform himself into a bull. According to myth, Dionysus conquered India through his mysterious power thus Alexander, who conquered parts of India by force of arms, could be seen as a second Dionysus. The coin type is yet more complex, because the issuer of this coin, Seleukos I, had repeated Alexander’s exploit of campaigning in western India. Thus he could claim to be a third Dionysus and a second Alexander, and this is undoubtedly implied by the heroic image.
Depicted on the reverse is Nike, the winged goddess of victory, crowning a trophy of arms. After a battle, the victors gathered arms from their fallen foes and attached them to a tree trunk to form a quasi-human figure. This trophy became the god of the battlefield, to which prayers of thanksgiving were offered. In this case the trophy probably alludes to the Battle of Ipsus (301 BC), in which Seleukos secured his kingdom with the aid of the war elephants he had acquired through his Indian campaign.
Newell ESM.301 | Houghton & Lorber (SC) 173,16 |
Sear – (cf. 6833) | HGC 9, no.20 RR
Very rare historical coin.
Kingdom of the Seleucids AR Tetradrachm 312-280 BC Seleucus I Nikator: Elephant Quadriga VF
3,875.00 US$
Material: Silver
Weight: 16.95 g
Obv: Head of Zeus with laurel wreath r. in dotted border.
Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ/ ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ Athena in elephant Quadriga going r., above, Seleucid anchor. In field to r. ??. 16,95 g. Newell, ESM 29 (31), p.198, SNG Spaer 95-6 var. Houghton/Lorber,SC 130 var.
From Auction Münzen & Medaillen GmbH, Weil am Rhein, Aukt. 42 (2015), 90.
2,825.00 US$
Material: Silver
Weight: 17.00 g
Obv: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Rev:Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, MI above rudder; monogram in wreath below throne
Ref: SC 82 (3)e
Exceptionel coin,, High relief, sharp details
Seleucid Empire Tetradrachm 296/281 BC, Seleucus I Nicator, 306-280 BC VF
1,995.00 US$
Weight: 17.06 g. – Diameter 26.5 mm.
Catalog: Houghton/Lorber 177 var. HGC – SCO –
Obv: Head of Zeus
Rev: Athena in elephant quadriga, above arrowhead, in front of it monogram from AB.
Unedited and rare Very fine
Tetradrachm ca. 300-295 BC Seleucia-o Seleukid Kingdom, Seleukos I Nikator AU(55-58)
1,430.00 US$
Weight: 16.94 g – Diameter: 25.60 mm
Mint : Seleucia-on-Tigris
Mint mark: Seleucia-on-Tigris
Main character: Seleukos I Nikator
Beardless head of Heracles right wearing lion skin headdress, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding a sceptre in his left hand and a Victory holding a wreath in his right hand. A monogram in the left field, M below the throne., This is a splendid specimen, with a light golden patina. The details are almost perfectly preserved, and we can still clearly distinguish the drapery of the Victory, the details of which show the exceptional skill of the engraver. This talent allows us to feel the impressive stature of Zeus seated on his throne while appreciating the precision of the minting and engraving of the whole scene. ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ
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