Sale: CNG 64, Lot: 485. Estimate $15000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2003.  Sold For $13200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy III. 246-221 BC. AV Oktadrachm (27.86 gm). Commemorative issue struck under Ptolemy IV, 221-205 BC. Bust of the deified Ptolemy III right, wearing radiate diadem and aegis; trident over left shoulder, middle prong ends in a lotus finial / Radiate and filleted cornucopiae; DI below. Svoronos 1117; SNG Copenhagen 196; Boston MFA 2283. Good VF. ($15,000)

Ex J. Schulman (5 June 1930), lot 193.

Under Ptolemy IV, an extensive series of oktadrachms was struck posthumously for Ptolemy III, portraying him with the divine attributes of Helios (the radiate diadem), Zeus (the aegis), and Poseidon (the trident, the middle prong modified with the addition of the Egyptian lotus tip). The concentration of such symbols is intended to show Ptolemy III as the master of the three elements, heaven, earth and sea. The radiate crown above the cornucopiae on the reverse is another distinctive feature of Ptolemy III's iconography, and was later adopted by his grandson, Ptolemy V.