Demetrius II (2nd reign, 129-125 BC), dated 185 SE (127 BC). Cf. SC 1963. 6.50 grams. Diademed and draped bust right of Demetrios II / Eagle standing left on beak of galley, club (Tyre mintmark) and date in field. Very fine with deep toning.
Demetrius II, who twice ruled the Seleucid Kingdom, was the last Greek king to strike silver coins at Tyre (though Seleucid rulers issued silver coins as late as 106 or 105 B.C. at two of Tyre’s close neighbors, Sidon to the north and Ake-Ptolemais to the south). Interestingly, the second reign of Demetrius II, from 129 to 125 B.C., ended with his execution at Tyre in 125 — the year by which Tyre certainly had introduced its famous shekels.
Before his execution, Demetrius had issued large quantities of tetradrachms and didrachms at Tyre. At about 14 grams, his tetradrachms weighed the same as the shekels that Tyre would strike upon achieving independence from the Seleucids.
For the next 191 years Tyre produced its well-regarded shekels and half shekels (and negligible quantities of silver quarter and eighth shekels). Though it is believed that this series ended in A.D. 65 to 66, it is always possible that examples dated after that one day may be reported.
Tyre shekels were struck in high purity silver, which made them ideal for functions both practical and sacred. Minor details aside, its design remained constant for nearly two centuries: the obverse showed the head of the god Melkart (equivalent to Heracles and Hercules) and the reverse showed an eagle with a palm branch over its shoulder, perched on the prow of a galley.
The design was modeled after the last tetradrachm/shekels struck at Tyre by the Seleucid King Demetrius II. That king’s portrait was replaced with an image of Melkart, and a few minor modifications were made to the eagle reverse.
The inscription on the reverse boasts of Tyre as being “holy” and “inviolable.” The fields around the eagle are decorated with an upright club (symbolic of Tyre) and at least one monogram, which presumably represented a civic official. Between the eagle’s legs are an alef or a bet, the first two letters of the Phoenician alphabet, which had an uncertain administrative function.
Comes in a polished redwood case with its own original NGC casing
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