Demetrios II Nicator, 129-126 BC (Second Reign), Tetradrachm

Demetrios II Nicator, Tetradrachm, AR, second reign (129–126 BC), Antioch on the Orontes; 17.12 g; 29 mm. Obverse: Diademed, bearded head of Demetrios II right. Reverse: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY ΘEOY NIKATOPOΣ; Zeus Nikephoros enthroned left, holding Nike and scepter. Struck at Antioch on the Attic standard during the restoration issues of the second reign. SC 2166.2.

Issued at the Seleucid capital following Demetrios II’s release from Parthian captivity, this tetradrachm belongs to the brief restoration period when he ruled with Cleopatra Thea. The bearded portrait is the diagnostic feature of his later coinage and reflects his return from Parthia. Antioch’s tetradrachms were the principal silver output of the kingdom, used to fund operations against the usurper Alexander II Zabinas and to stabilize royal authority in Syria before the regime’s collapse in 126 BC.