Demetrios I Soter, 162-150 BC

Demetrios I Soter, Tetradrachm, AR, 162–150 BC, 16.57 g, 30 mm. Seleucid Kingdom, Antioch on the Orontes. Obverse: Diademed head of Demetrios I right. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTPIOY ΣΩTHPOΣ; Tyche enthroned left, holding scepter and cornucopia. Struck at Antioch on the Attic standard. SC 1640.1. Demetrios I Soter, son of Seleukos IV and nephew of Antiochos IV, escaped Roman custody to seize the Seleucid throne in 162 BC, deposing the regency of Antiochos V and Lysias. His defeat of the usurper Timarchos earned him the honorific Soter (“Saviour”), explicitly cited on this coinage. Antioch on the Orontes served as the principal mint and royal capital, and large silver issues on the Attic standard financed military and administrative efforts to restore central control until Demetrios was overthrown by Alexander Balas in 150 BC.