CNG 100, Lot: 1618. Estimate $500. Sold for $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MAURETANIA. Ptolemy. AD 24-40. Æ Half Unit (22mm, 4.98 g, 8h). Caesarea mint. Struck AD 24. Laureate and draped bust right / Draped bust of Africa right, wearing elephant headdress; barley grain to right. MAA 353; SNG Copenhagen 664. EF, dark green patina, off center, a little rough. Very rare.

For almost fifty years Ptolemy's father, Juba II, maintained order in North Africa as one of Rome's most loyal client kings. He had been given Cleopatra's daughter, Cleopatra Selene, as a wife by a grateful Augustus, and their son Ptolemy succeeded Juba in AD 24. Ptolemy was not the strong leader his father had been, and increasing restiveness among the tribes led to the outbreak of several revolts, which he could not quell. Ptolemy was called to Rome for consultations in AD 40, where he was murdered by the unstable emperor Gaius Caligula. Mauritania was formally annexed to the empire in AD 44, and the revolts were brutally crushed by Roman legions. The death of Ptolemy marked the final end of the dynasty begun by his illustrious ancestor, Ptolemy I Soter.