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© AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY

SELEUCID “EAGLES.” Around 150 BCE, new coins began to appear in Seleucid territory. The so-called Seleucid “eagles” pictured Alexander Balas, a contender for the Seleucid throne, on one side and an eagle on the other. This silver coin—dating to 150–149 BCE, minted in Tyre, and measuring about 1 inch in diameter—shows a diademed Alexander Balas and an eagle on a thunderbolt, along with Alexander’s name and title (king) in Greek. Ptolemy VI, who hoped to gain control of the entire region, supported Alexander Balas’s claim and flooded the market with these coins.