Circa 281-261 BCE
AE 17 mm, 3.62 g, 3 h
B-K Laureate head of Apollo to right.
Rev. ΑΝΤΙΟ-XEΩΝ Head of a ram to right; behind, club.
SNG Copenhagen 272-3. SNG von Aulock –
This coin has provided a bit of controversy.
It is extremely similar to issues from Kebren with both the obverse and reverse, so with a high probability it was minted there. However, the name of the city is spelled as ‘Antiocheia’. This has led some to theorize that Antiochos I Soter renamed the city when it was taken after Lysimachos died in 281 BCE.
Pushing matters even further, this particular copy has the letters ‘B’ and ‘K’ on the obverse along with a club on the reverse. This is typical of the coinage of Birytis. Therefore, Louis Robert has argued that there may have been a synoecism, or joining, of the cities.
This has certainly been controversial, and others have pointed out that there is zero archeological evidence of such a relationship or of Kebren being occupied at this point. However, the site still is mostly unexplored, and will have to await further archeological digging to confirm.
The coin, especially with the club and ‘BK’ (maybe an ancient Burger King?), is extremely rare, with only a handful in private hands. While the discussion of Birytis is controversial, most historians now accept that Kebren was renamed Antiocheia, with the primary evidence for that being these coins.
In terms of the city, Kebren was founded sometime in the 7th or 6th centuries BCE. Xenophon mentioned it in his Hellenika as a “strong place”. The Spartan general Deryklidas threatened to overrun it, but kept sacrificing and receiving unfavorable omens until Pharnabazos came to the city’s defense and Deryklidas was forced to retire.
When Antigonos I Monophthalmos founded his city of Antigoneia in the Troad, the population of Kebren was moved to the new city, which was soon thereafter renamed as Alexandreia.
The ruins of the city have been found.
Kebren is possibly refounded by Antiochos I Soter as Antiocheia.