Antiochos II Theos, 261-246 BC, Tetradrachm

Antiochos II Theos, tetradrachm, AR, 261–246 BC, Antioch, 16.83 g, 27 mm. Obverse with the diademed head of Antiochos II right, the portrait rendered in a Hellenistic royal style with clear facial modeling and a neatly tied diadem. Reverse with the legend ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ, in the Seleucid royal coinage tradition; the types are well centered with legends largely complete. Struck on a broad flan with strong definition on the portrait and legible reverse inscription. Reference: Seleucid Coins (SC) 641.

As a principal silver denomination of the Seleucid kingdom, the tetradrachms of Antiochos II reflect the continued use of royal portraiture and Greek titulature to project dynastic legitimacy across a multiethnic empire. Issues of Antioch, the central Seleucid mint and an administrative capital, document the monetary and political role of the city during Antiochos II’s reign, a period marked by ongoing conflict with the Ptolemaic kingdom and internal dynastic pressures that shaped the later course of Seleucid power.