PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter. As satrap, 323-305/4 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 17.09 g, 12h). In the name of Alexander III of Macedon. Memphis or Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 320/19-314/3 BC. EF.

Triton XXVI
Lot: 421. Estimated: $ 15 000

Greek, 12h, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 16 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter. As satrap, 323-305/4 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 17.09 g, 12h). In the name of Alexander III of Macedon. Memphis or Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 320/19-314/3 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, wearing elephant skin / AΛEΞANΔPOY, Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; thunderbolt in left field, monogram below throne. CPE 33; Svoronos 22; Zervos Issue 13, dies 251/– (unlisted rev. die); SNG Copenhagen 11; Noeske –; Athena Fund I 77 (this coin). Lightly toned. EF. Struck in high relief from dies of exemplary style.

Ex Nomos 23 (30 November 2021), lot 182 (hammer 20,000 CHF); collection of a Northern California Gentleman (Triton XXII, 8 January 2019), lot 400; Nomos 19 (17 November 2019), lot 222; Athena Fund (Part I, Sotheby’s Zurich (26 October 1993), lot 77; Numismatic Fine Arts XXVII (4 December 1991), lot 85; Christie’s New York (2 May 1989), lot 760; Kovacs FPL 26 (July 1987), no. 63.

Ptolemy I Soter, the son of a Macedonian nobleman, was a friend and intimate of Alexander III the Great from boyhood and accompanied him on his great career of conquest, from 333-323 BC. Upon Alexander’s death in 323 BC, Ptolemy was granted the prized satrapy of Egypt, the richest of the formerly Persian provinces. Alone among the Diadochi (”successors”), he was content with his sphere of influence and did not risk all to succeed Alexander. However, he was not above using the great conqueror’s image and reputation to secure his own position. He hijacked Alexander’s funeral cortege as it was proceeding back to Macedon and had his embalmed corpse formally interred at Memphis in Egypt; later the body was relocated to a splendid mausoleum in Alexandria. Ptolemy’s early coinage is modeled on that of Alexander and carries the conqueror’s image and name, as seen on this remarkable tetradrachm, which shows Alexander wearing an elaborate elephant-skin headdress in honor of his victories in India. Ptolemy declared his own kingship in 305/4 BC and was the only one of Alexander’s Successors to die peacefully, in his bed, in 282 BC, having founded a dynasty that would last three centuries.

The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.

Triton XXVI – Session Two – Lot 335-673 will be held Tuesday afternoon, 10 January 2023 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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