389, Lot: 387. Estimate $100. Sold for $90. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy VI Philometor. Second sole reign, 163-145 BC. AR Didrachm (21mm, 6.78 g, 1h). Uncertain mint in Cyprus. Dated year 107 of an uncertain era (156/5 BC). Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, wearing aegis around neck / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; PZ (date) on thunderbolt (barely visible). Svoronos 1214; Mørkholm, Ptolemaic 234–43 (obv. die A17 [Arados]); SNG Copenhagen 554; DCA 76. VF, toned, slight roughness, edge marks from prior mount.

From the David Wray Collection.

The mint and era of this enigmatic coinage has been much debated. For the most recent discussion, see C. Lorber, “The Ptolemaic era coinage revisited,” NC (2007), pp. 105–17. Although this issue is traditionally assigned to Arados, Lorber argues for a Cypriot mint, perhaps Arsinoe near Salamis. Although the era is uncertain, a starting date of 262/1 BC has been accepted by Lorber and most scholars.