CNG 93, Lot: 623. Estimate $500. Sold for $380. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy VI Philometor. First sole reign, 180-170 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 13.43 g, 1h). Uncertain mint on Cyprus. Dated year 90 of an uncertain era (173/2 BC). Diademed bust of Ptolemy I right, wearing aegis / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; retrograde P (date) to left. Svoronos 1112 and 1205; Mørkholm, Ptolemaic 161 (A39/P116) = SNG Copenhagen 547 (same dies); Noeske 401; DCA 73. Near EF, some porosity, light deposits on reverse. Rare.

The mint and era of this enigmatic coinage has been much debated. For the most recent discussion, see C. Lorber, “The Ptolemaic era coinage revisited,” NC 167 (2007), pp. 105-17. Traditionally assigned to Arados, Lorber argues for a Cypriot mint, perhaps Arsinoe near Salamis. Although the era is uncertain, a starting date of 262/1 BC has been accepted by Lorber and most scholars.