ΠTOΛEMAIOY Erased from Die

Triton XVII, Lot: 409. Estimate $10000. Sold for $30000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter. As satrap, 323-305 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 16.26 g, 1h). Attic standard. Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 316-312/1 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, wearing elephant skin and aegis with tiny ΔO to right of elephant ear / AΛEΞANΔPEION [ΠTOΛEMAIOY (erased in die on right)], Athena Alkidemos, wearing crested helmet and chiton, striding right, preparing to cast spear held in right hand, shield on left arm; ΔI to inner left; to inner right, eagle standing right. Svoronos –; Zervos Issue 20B, dies 300/a, corr. (erasure of royal name not noted); SNG Copenhagen –; Noeske –; Kaaay & Hirmer 798 = G.K. Jenkins, “A Ptolemaic Hoard from Phacous” in MN IX (1960), pl. IV, 3 (same dies). EF, even light gray toning. Very rare.

The unprecedented legend on this issue has sparked a vigorous debate, in both numismatic and historical literature. The debate has been distilled into two general camps. The first, relying on the original analysis by Svoronos, was that the legend referred to the mint of the coin, thus" 'Ptolemy's coin of Alexandreia.' This view has more recently been advocated by both O. Mørkholm (Mørkholm, Cyrene, p. 149) and M.J. Price (Price p. 496). In this light, these coins have been viewed as the first issues struck at Ptolemy's new mint in Alexandreia. While this interpretation is understandable from a purely numismatic context, literary and papyrological evidence more clearly support the second interpretation, that the legend means: 'Ptolemy's Alexander-coin.' This view was first proposed by O. Zervos, who showed that after the conquest of Alexander, in the late 4th century, there is ample non-numismatic evidence to show that the word ἀλεξάνδρειον meant not only coins of Alexander type, but also of Alexander (Attic) weight (Zervos pp. 321-26). Thus, the legend declares that this tetradrachm is of the same standard as the then-ubiquitous Alexanders, and would be recognizable as such in the marketplace. As this issue constituted the second issue of Ptolemy's new Athena-type tetradrachms, its appearance is perplexing. Zervos notes that around the same time, Ptolemy began issuing fractions on a totally different weight standard, which was not only non-Attic, but also too light to comport with the later reduced-standard tetradrachms. He suggests that the confusion this caused might have precipitated this issue that boldly asserts its Alexander (Attic) standard.

Although the interpretation of the legend is quite interesting in itself, perhaps more intriguing is the fact that this is not only the first appearance of Ptolemy's name on his coinage, but the first instance of any of the Diadochs placing their names on their coins. Such an action might very well have been viewed quite negatively by the other Successors, as at the time, the notion of them being satraps under the nominal Macedonian king was not yet shattered; placing his name on coins probably would have been viewed as tantamount to declaring himself king. Three facts suggest that Ptolemy reversed his decision and removed his name after finding it was unpopular and dangerous: (1) Zervos identified only four reverse dies for the issue with Ptolemy's name (Zervos Issue 17). This shows that this issue with his name was very brief. (2) The single reverse die of Zervos Issue 20B, with only the legend AΛEΞANΔPEION visible, originally had Ptolemy's name engraved as Issue 17, but ΠTOΛEMAIOY was removed from the die (this fact was missed by Zervos, but is clearly visible on the present specimen as well as the example in the R. Burrage Collection [Morgenthau 342, 26 November 1934, lot 167]). This erasure suggests that the removal of the name was not planned, but was done in reaction to some event. (3) No other issue bore Ptolemy's name until the other Diadochs declared themselves king, circa 306/5 BC, a pivotal event that only occurred during a time of war between the Macedonian inheritors of Alexander's empire.