III the Great in 200 BC. Seleucids struck some coins in the Ptolemaic standard to be used in the region, and both standards coexisted there. Seleucid regulations on coinage different from Achaemenid Persia on several aspects. Achaemenid rulers did not try to unify standards for the coinage, and they allowed local satraps to strike coins in their own name. While the Seleucids preserved the system of satraps, they banned local rulers from striking coins in their own name. Some cities had their own mints for bronze coinage, while gold coins and large silver denominations were made only at the royal mints. However, the empire controlled on some extent even the striking of local bronze coinage. After Antiochus III was defeated in a war against Rome and a large war indemnity had to be paid, silver coinage became scarcer and lighter. There were few new silver coins struck for two decades after the defeat. Bronze mostly replaced silver in mints between 173 BC and 171 BC. When the Seleucid Empire began to decline, and its rule on parts of the empire weakened since the last decades of the second century BC, local cities began producing their own silver coinages to show their autonomy from the central bureaucracy. Despite seemingly enforcing some regulations, Seleucid policy was still somewhat free compared to the Ptolemaic Kingdom which imposed an exclusive royal currency. In coin making process there were similarities with the Ptolemaic coinage. For instance, the Seleucid coins often have a central depression from the coin making process. Mints Seleucid core territory around Syria had a large concentration of mints. Eastern provinces had a single mint each. Mediterranean regions of the Seleucid kingdom were more monetized, and were economically more reliant on coinage. Use of coinage in Mesopotamia, including areas such as Babylonia and Susiana, was most likely mainly an urban phenomenon, while in rural areas Greek coinage was not necessary for daily life. In Mesopotamia taxation and official payments were most likely the parts of economy where coinage saw usage. Despite Mesopotamia seeing increasing use of coinage during the Hellenistic period, the impact may have been a modest one. Traditional methods of payment did not disappear. Seleucia on the Tigris held the first Seleucid mint as a capital. Later, when Seleucus I Nicator prioritized construction of an important port city of Antioch over Seleucia, workers from the Seleucia mint were moved to new