Ionia, Smyrna. Silver Tetradrachm (15.14 g), ca. 155-145 BC. Posidonios, magistrate. Turreted head of Tyche right. Reverse: ZMYP/NAIΩN in two lines above magistrate's monogram; all within wreath. Milne 145; SNG von Aulock 2161. NGC grade Ch VF; Strike: 5/5, Surface: 2/5. Brushed. Estimated Value $400 - UP
This coin belongs to a class of tetradrachms primarily struck by cities of western Asia Minor around the mid-second century BC and easily distinguished by the wreath border on the reverse. Such wreath-bearing tetradrachms derived their reverse border from the influential New Style Athenian tetradrachms known as stephanophoroi ("wreath-bearers"). Many of the wreath-bearing coinages of western Asia Minor may have been produced under the influence of Attalos II (160-138 BC) as financial support for his foreign policy. Hoard evidence strongly suggests that some were used to underwrite the invasion of Syria by the Attalid-backed Seleukid pretender, Alexander Balas, in 150 BC. This issue of Smyrna predates Attalus' intervention in Seleukid affairs, but it probably served similar purposes abroad. Its reduced Attic weight made it more acceptable in international trade than the greatly overvalued cistophoric tetradrachm of the Attalid kingdom.