Demetrios II Nikator AR Tetradrachm Tyre SE 169 (144/3 BC) Eagle on prow

Demetrios II Nikator, tetradrachm, silver, first reign 146–138 BC; struck 144–143 BC at Tyre, 16.55 g, 30 mm. Anepigraphic obverse with diademed and draped bust of Demetrios II right. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΔHMHTΡΙΟΥ; eagle with closed wings standing left on prow; palm frond behind; in left field a club surmounted by the Tyre monogram; in right field ΘΞP above monogram, the Seleucid Era date year 169 (144/3 BC). Struck on the Attic standard at Tyre with local control marks and explicit date. Reference: SC 1959.3b.

This dated Tyre issue marks Demetrios II’s consolidation of Phoenicia early in his first reign following the collapse of Alexander I Balas. The reverse combines royal titulature with civic symbols—the Ptolemaic-style eagle and Tyrian club—illustrating local continuity under Seleucid authority. The SE 169 date places the coin in the years preceding Demetrios’ capture by the Parthians in 138 BC amid his conflict with Diodotus Tryphon.