Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 728. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $3600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy III Euergetes. 246-221 BC. AR Tetradrachm (13.79 gm, 12h). Lebedos mint. Diademed head right / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; cornucopiae to left, grape bunch to right. Svoronos 915; SNG Copenhagen -. Good VF, minor die rust on obverse, small mark on reverse, reverse lightly double struck. Extremely rare. ($3000)

In the Third Syrian War (246-241 BC), Ptolemy III wrested control of a number of cities in western Asia Minor from the Seleukids. Lebedos was one such city, which Ptolemy subsequently refounded as Ptolemaïs. Only a handful of these Ptolemaic coins of Lebedos are known, and their attribution to this mint is based primarily on their findspots and the presence of a grape bunch (a symbol of Lebedos) symbol. Although Ptolemaic tetradrachms of all mints typically feature an idealized portrait of Ptolemy I Soter on the obverse, these coins of Lebedos exhibit a portrait whose features are quite different and more realistic, suggesting they are actually a portrait of Ptolemy III. Although unusual, this is not a unique occurrence in the series, as portrait tetradrachms are known of Ptolemy IV and V from mints in Phoenicia.