Antiochos IV Epiphanes, AE bronze, bronze, reign 175–164 BC, struck

Antiochos IV Epiphanes, AE bronze, bronze, reign 175–164 BC, struck 169–169 BC, weight 16.6 g, diameter 28 mm. Obverse: head of Isis right, wearing taenia; legend BASILEŌS ANTIOCHOU THEOU EPIPHANOUS. Reverse: eagle with closed wings standing right on thunderbolt; field otherwise plain. Strike: well-centered with full legends, moderate relief. Toning: dark brown patina with lighter green highlights. References: HGC 9, 644; categorized as an “Egyptianizing” commemorative bronze attributed to the Antioch on the Orontes mint. Struck during the build-up to Antiochos IV’s third campaign in Ptolemaic Egypt, the issue combines Egyptian and Seleucid imagery to legitimize his temporary control of Egyptian territories. The portrait of Isis echoes native religious iconography familiar to Egyptian subjects, while the eagle on thunderbolt refers to Zeus, the principal deity of the Seleucid state. Produced at Antioch, the empire’s administrative center, the coins likely circulated alongside regular Seleucid bronze to advertise the king’s victories of 170–168 BC and to reinforce his claim of “manifest god” (Epiphanes) to both Greek and Egyptian audiences.