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This study establishes that the die linked tetradrachm issues of SC 118 in the name of Philip III and SC 117.7 in the name of Seleukos were struck simultaneously at Seleukeia on Tigris. The issue in the name of Philip III was struck from purpose cut dies, an intentional posthumous issue, obverse die linked to a simultaneous issue in the name of Seleukos. A parallel emission of die linked tetradrachms in the names of Philip and Seleukos also occurred at Uncertain Mint 6A (Opis) in Babylonia, a short distance from Seleukeia on Tigris. This is a chronological peg that associates the issues from the two mints. It suggests that the emission from Seleukeia on Tigris accompanied the acclamation of the Seleukos as king, coincident with the inauguration of the mint at his new foundation in c. 304/3 BC. https://numismatics.org.au/naa-journal/volume-31-2021-2022/, https://numismatics.org.au/naa-journal/volume-31-2021-2022/

This study makes the case for the reattribution from Byblos to a second mint at Arados (Arados II) of the coinage of Alexander the Great bearing the ligate AP mint mark. The majority of the early output from this mint was gold staters. Most probably the mint was established to accommodate the expansion of gold coinage production from c. 328/7 BC, while silver Alexandrine coinage remained the priority of the first mint (Arados I), which had its origins in the old Achaemenid mint at Arados. After the initial striking of a substantial gold stater coinage, accompanied by a minor silver tetradrachm mintage, Arados II then issued a sizeable silver tetradrachm coinage. Both mints at Arados produced Macedonian imperial coinage until c. 321/0 BC at which time Arados I ceased operation. Based on the hoard record, it is likely that Arados II continued to strike Alexander tetradrachms until around 301/0 BC when the city passed from Antigonid to Seleukid control following the Battle of Ipsos.

This paper details a study of the coinage of Susa struck prior to Seleukos's annexation of the province of Susiana to Babylonia in 312/1 BC. This coinage is divided into four groups defined on the basis of a progression of mint controls and the accompanying legend. The collective evidence suggests that the first three groups of this coinage were struck simultaneously in the period c. 319/8-318/7 BC to fund the campaign of Eumenes, preceding the confrontation with Antigonos at Paraitakene and Gabiene in 317/6 BC. This represents a downdating by up to seven years of the start of the Macedonian mint at Susa relative to that proposed by Price. In contrast, the fourth group struck from a single obverse tetradrachm die, was an exceptional stand-alone issue, under the satrap Aspeisas, 317/6-312/1 BC, possibly struck immediately preceding the annexation of the province of Susiana to Babylonia by Seleukos in 312/1 BC. Taylor, L. W. H. 2019. The Macedonian Mint at Susa (319/8-312/1 BC). Koinon II: 28-62.

The earliest tetradrachms (Group 1) from the mint of Alexander the Great at Babylon show a rapid progression in the development of iconographic detail, accompanied by a pattern of die use, which taken together indicate that the mint most probably commenced production in 326/5 BC. Group 1 consists of a small, short duration emission bearing the hallmarks of a rapid evolution of iconographic elements and style that laid the foundation for the expansive mint operation responsible for the subsequent Group 2 coinage. The latter was the most prolific of any from the mint. Initially the mint appears to have utilized two die engravers from the earlier Babylonian mint of the satrap Mazaios, supplemented shortly thereafter by die engravers from farther afield, possibly from one of the northern Phoenician, Syrian or Kilikian mints. Group 1 has the characteristics of a brief commissioning stage, lasting four to six months. It represents a modest estimated coined volume of c. 159 Attic talents.

As a result of this die study the coinage in the name of Alexander and Seleukos formerly assigned to Uncertain Mint 1 in Cappadocia, Eastern Syria, or Northern Mesopotamia is conjoined with that of Uncertain Mint 6A in Babylonia. The latter mint operated intermittently in the period 318-301 BC, serving the military needs of Seleukos, eventually becoming a mobile facility in support of the campaign of his army to Ipsos. It issued the first coinage to bear the name of Seleukos within a framework of the army’s acclamation of his kingship.