Recent Mint Reattribution

320, Lot: 228. Estimate $500. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy II Philadelphos. 285-246 BC. Æ (26mm, 17.46 g, 12h). Mint in Sicily. Struck circa 265 BC. Laureate head of Zeus right / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; Galatian shield to left. Wolf & Lorber, ‘Alexandrian’ style, P30 (this coin cited); Svoronos 610; SNG Copenhagen 114. Good VF, attractive green patina. A nice example of a Ptolemaic coin minted in Sicily.

In their recent study (see: http://www.ptolemybronze.com/), Daniel Wolf and Catharine Lorber thoroughly examine a class of the ‘Galatian shield’ bronze coinage commonly given to the Alexandria mint. While the bronze issues with an enigmatic monogram of Σ with serifs above the shield can be attributed to the mint of Alexandria, those without this control exhibit distinguishing features, with provenances suggesting a Sicilian mint. While this theory of a western origin has been posited before, Wolf and Lorber present the first comprehensive investigation of the series, accompanied by a die study. Their analysis shows that the initial output of Sicilian ‘Galatian shield’ bronzes appear to have been produced under Alexandrian minting specialists, with related ‘imitative’ issues of ‘Western Greek’ style following this period of production under Ptolemaic authority. These ‘Western Greek’ style coins were struck with loose dies and share a common fabric, metrology, and border style with the Syracusan coinage of Hieron II, as well as featuring shared controls with the coinage struck in Hieron’s name, all indicating a Sicilian mint’s operation under Hieron superseding the Ptolemaic, or perhaps the wholesale transfer of the mint (if so, very likely to Syracuse).