69, Lot: 43. Estimate $100. Sold for $130. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy XII. 80-51 BC. AR Tetradrachm. (23mm, 14.15 gm). Alexandria mint. Dated year 13 (69/8 BC). Diademed head right, wearing aegis / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; LIG (date) in left field, PA in right field. Svoronos 1860; cf. SNG Copenhagen 382 (LQ [date]). Toned VF, slight roughness on obverse.

Ptolemy XII was variously surnamed 'Neos Dionysos' (New Dionysos) and 'Auletes' (Flutist), terms which suggested his tendencies to pleasure, rather than attention to matters of state. These attributes, combined with the king's close ties to the Romans, led to his expulsion from power in 58 BC. The proconsul Gabinius restored him to power three years later in return for a substantial indemnity and a further strengthening of relations between Egypt and Rome. Ptolemy XII was the father of Cleopatra VII, the last monarch of Egypt and lover to both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.