Seleucid Demetrios I Soter AR Tetradrachm, Antioch, 162–150 BC

Demetrios I Soter, drachm, silver, reign 162–150 BC, struck 162–150 BC, Antioch; 3.53 g, 30 mm. Obv: Anepigraphic; diademed head of Demetrios I right. Rev: BASILEOS DEMETRIOU SOTEROS; cornucopia upright; two control monograms beneath. Struck at Antioch (Seleucid Empire) on a broad flan; obverse well centered, reverse slightly off-center with minor flan irregularities typical of the issue. Ref: HGC 9, 806. Demetrios I, son of Seleukos IV, escaped Roman hostage status to seize the Seleucid throne in 162 BC, overthrowing the regime of Antiochos V and Lysias. After defeating the usurper Timarchos of Media, he received the epithet Soter (“Savior”) from Babylonian authorities. His Antiochene silver issues on the Attic standard supplied imperial finance during efforts to reassert central control in Syria and Mesopotamia and during campaigns in Judaea; his death in 150 BC cleared the way for the pretender Alexander Balas.