After Alexander's death, Seleucus I and successors struck Hellenistic tetradrachms across Persian mints — Susa, Ecbatana, Persepolis, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris.
Seleucid coinage introduced Greek weight standards (Attic tetradrachm ~17 g) and royal portraiture to the Iranian world.
Local types blended Greek deities with Persian symbols: Apollo on the omphalos, anchor monograms, and occasionally local satrapal motifs.
Antiochos I Soter (Seleucid)
ObverseDiademed bust of the king.
ReverseApollo seated on omphalos; anchor monogram.
Anchor symbol referenced the Seleucid dynasty's founding legend.
Antiochus III
ObverseDiademed bust right.
ReverseApollo seated on omphalos.
Struck in massive quantities to fund eastern campaigns.
Diodotus I (Greco-Bactrian)
ObverseDiademed head of the king right.
ReverseZeus advancing left hurling thunderbolt; Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΔΙΟΔΟΤΟΥ.
Diodotus broke from the Seleucids to found the Greco-Bactrian kingdom — Hellenistic coinage striking deep into eastern Iran.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
ObverseDiademed and radiate head of Antiochus IV right — explicit deification (the epithet 'Epiphanes' meaning 'God Manifest').
ReverseZeus Nikephoros enthroned left, holding Nike and sceptre; legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ.
The most ambitious Seleucid king after Antiochus III — his eastern campaigns took him deep into Iran where he died in 164 BCE near Tabae in Persis. His coinage is the high-water mark of Seleucid royal portraiture.