Interesting Mule

214, Lot: 258. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Time of Ptolemy VI Philometor. 205-180 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 13.81 g, 1h). Contemporary imitation. Diademed and draped bust of Ptolemy V right / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt. For prototypes: cf. Svoronos 1289 and SNG Copenhagen 530-1 (for obverse); cf. Svoronos 853 and SNG Copenhagen 539 (for reverse). Good VF, toned, minor surface roughness, patches of find patina on edge.

This interesting imitation pairs an obverse type of Ptolemy V’s “portrait type” and a reverse type of Ptolemy VI with the Ptolemy Soter legend. Both of these types are only known from Ptolemaic mints in Phoenicia, thus this imitation is either from Phoenicia or the vicinity thereof, where the official issues would have circulated.