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

Alexander Balas, Drachm, silver, reign 150–146 BC, Antioch, 4.16 g, 17 mm. Anepigraphic obverse with diademed bust of Alexander Balas right. Reverse with legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΘΕΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΟΥ; Apollo seated left on the omphalos, holding arrow in right hand and resting left on grounded bow; monogram in outer left field; monogram in exergue. Struck at Antioch on a compact flan; obverse centered, reverse slightly off-center; light surface granularity and minor edge irregularity, legends largely complete. Seleucid Coins (SC) 1785.5i. Alexander I Balas claimed to be a son of Antiochus IV and used epithets such as Theopator (“of a divine father”) and Euergetes (“Benefactor”) to legitimize his rule amid civil war with the Demetrian line. His coinage from Antioch adopts the long-standing Seleucid Apollo-on-omphalos type, signaling continuity with prior reigns and the dynasty’s Delphic association. These issues mark the brief ascendancy of Balas, supported by Ptolemaic and Roman interests, before his defeat by Demetrius II and the fragmentation of Seleucid control in Syria.