Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 737. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Cleopatra VII Philopator. 51-30 BC. Æ Dichalkon-Eighth Unit (1.99 gm, 12h). Paphos on Cyprus mint. Diademed and draped idealized bust right / Double cornucopiae. Kreuzer p. 44, first illustration (this coin); Svoronos 1161 (Ptolemy IV); Weiser -; SNG Copenhagen 649. VF, dark green patina. ($300)

Kreuzer, in his book The Coinage System of Cleopatra VII and Augustus in Cyprus, assembles evidence pointing towards a later date for the small Ptolemaic bronzes in circulation on Cyprus, attributing them to Cleopatra VII, rather than the time of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III. The evidence includes the discovery of a Ptolemaic mint at Paphos, striking these small coins at the very end of the Ptolemaic period.