Seleucid Alexander I Balas AR Drachm Antioch 150–146 BC Apollo omphalos

Alexander I Balas, Drachm, Silver, 150–146 BC, Antioch; 4.17 g, 17 mm. Obverse: anepigraphic; diademed head of Alexander right. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY ΘEΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ EΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ; Apollo seated left on omphalos, holding arrow in right hand and resting left on grounded bow; monogram in outer left; monogram in exergue. Struck at Antioch on the Orontes, centered on a compact flan with full reverse legend; minor surface porosity and light die wear at the portrait’s high points. Reference: SC 1785.5i (Seleucid Empire). Historical significance: Alexander I Balas ruled the Seleucid Empire during 150–146 BC after gaining the throne with external backing and by presenting himself as a son of Antiochus IV. His coinage from Antioch prominently uses the epithets Theopator and Euergetes to assert divine paternity and benefaction, while the Apollo-on-omphalos reverse continues the Seleucid dynastic type associated with Delphi. These issues mark the brief shift in power between Demetrius I and Demetrius II and illustrate the political messaging used in the final decades of Seleucid authority in Syria.