Antiocheia (BC 100-0) AE 12

1st century BC. AE12 (1.94g, 2h). Stratokles, magistrate. Bee / [ANTI]/O - XE[...]/ΣTPA/TOKΛ, crescent. Apparently unpublished, though cf. SNG Copenhagen 12 and G. Hirsch 284, lot 2445 for a similar reverse convention. Fine, green patina. Extremely rare.

The obverse bee would normally point to Ephesos, but the reverse type would be highly unusual for that city. The ‘O-X’ flanking the crescent must be part of the ethnic, and one of the few cities which would fit these letters is Antioch. The Copenhagen and Hirsch specimens, though having an entirely different obverse type featuring eagle on thunderbolt, have the convention of ethnic in two lines, separated by another astrological symbol (star), with the magistrate’s name in two lines below.