Very Rare Early Portrait Issue

Triton XVII, Lot: 411. Estimate $2500. Sold for $5000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter. 305-282 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28mm, 14.87 g, 1h). Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 300-285 BC. Diademed head right, wearing aegis around neck, small Δ behind ear / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠTOΛEMAIOY, eagle standing left on thunderbolt; Δ to left. Svoronos 185; SNG Copenhagen –; Noeske –; BMC 30. EF, toned. Fine style early portrait. Very rare.

The precise sequence of the portrait tetradrachms of Ptolemy I has not been established. A number of specialists have assumed that the tetradrachms of c. 15 g represent a transitional stage between the Alexander/Athena tetradrachms and the final adoption of the so-called Phoenician standard with tetradrachms of c. 14.3 g. Yet the situation may not be so simple, for both weights certainly circulated together, and some of the heavy tetradrachms share control marks with the regular tetradrachms. Nevertheless, there is a group of the heavy (c. 15 g) tetradrachms – including the present coin – that do not share controls with the regular tetradrachms, and it is these particular “heavies” that have a distinctive and beautiful portrait style. It does seem likely – on the basis of weight, control mark, and style – that the present coin falls among the earliest of Ptolemy’s portrait tetradrachms. We wish to thank Cathy Lorber for generously providing information used in the preparation of this note.