Great Hellenistic Portrait

CNG 96, Lot: 396. Estimate $3000. Sold for $3500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PERGAMON. Eumenes I. 263-241 BC. AR Tetradrachm (31mm, 16.80 g, 1h). In the name of Philetairos. Pergamon mint. Struck circa 255/0-241 BC. Head of Philetairos right, wearing laurel wreath / ΦIΛETAIPOY, Athena enthroned left, left elbow resting on shield to right, crowning dynastic name with wreath held in her extended right hand; transverse spear in background, ivy leaf to outer left, AΘ monogram to inner left, bow to right. Westermark Group IVA, dies LIII/2; SNG France 1611 (same dies); SNG von Aulock 1356–7; BMC 35 (same obv. die); Meydancikkale 3018 (same obv. die). EF, toned, areas of minor porosity, some light cleaning marks under tone. High relief. Great Hellenistic portrait.

When Lysimachos established the mint of Pergamon, he entrusted its treasury to the eunuch Philetairos. Philetairos changed his allegiance to Seleukos I, probably shortly before the Battle of Korupedion in 281 BC, where Seleukos defeated Lysimachos. Although Seleukos was assassinated the following year, Philetairos struck a series of Alexander-type issues in the name of Seleukos. Philetairos continued to acknowledge Seleukid primacy for some time, but soon struck a coinage in his own name. This coinage featured Athena Nikephoros on the reverse, similar to the reverses of Lysimachos. Perhaps because this move might have been viewed as a threat by his Seleukid overlord, the obverse of the first issues of these coins featured the portrait of Seleukos I. Houghton & Lorber (SC), citing Le Rider and Newell, assign this coinage to the aftermath of Antiochos I's victory over the Galatians, circa 269/8 BC. Near the end of Philetairos’ reign, in the mid-late 260s, the portrait of Seleukos was replaced with the portrait of the Pergamene king, noting a final break from Seleukid authority. Similar to what was done in Ptolemaic Egypt, all of the subsequent kings of Pergamon continued to use these types on the coinage, and even kept Philetairos’ name. Distinguishing the issues between the various rulers has been difficult for numismatists. Westermark’s die study of the coinage, however, provided the key necessary for understanding the series, although more recent hoard evidence has refined Westermark’s assignment of the issues.

The Pergamene kingdom had enjoyed considerable autonomy under the Seleukids, but in 261 BC, with the encouragement of Ptolemy II, who was at war against the Seleukids, Eumenes I revolted, and defeated Antiochos I in battle near Sardis in Lydia. The remainder of Eumenes’ reign saw an expansion of Pergamene power, including the foundation of a number of cities. Pergamene expansion was always at the expense of the Seleukids, and the two kingdoms remained in opposition. This opposition reached a climax during the reign of Eumenes II, who allied with the Romans during their war against the Seleukid king Antiochos III 'the Great.' This alliance directly contributed to the defeat of the Seleukids at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. In gratitude for his assistance, the Romans gave Eumenes control of Phrygia, Lydia, Lycia, and Pamphylia, and sought to strengthen the Pergamene kingdom as a buffer state between themselves and Seleukids.