PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Berenike II, wife of Ptolemy III. Circa 244/3-221 BC. AR Pentakaidekadrachm (42mm, 51.57 g, 12h). Alexandreia mint(?). Struck under Ptolemy III, 245 BC. VF.

CNG Feature Auction 127
Lot: 286.
Closing Date: Sep 18 2024 11:00 ET

Greek, 12h, Silver

Estimate: $ 10 000

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PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Berenike II, wife of Ptolemy III. Circa 244/3-221 BC. AR Pentakaidekadrachm (42mm, 51.57 g, 12h). Alexandreia mint(?). Struck under Ptolemy III, 245 BC. Veiled and draped bust right / BAΣIΛIΣΣHΣ BEPENIKHΣ, cornucopia, bound with fillet, between two laureate pileoi. CPE 734; Svoronos 988; D. Vagi, “The Ptolemaic Pentakaidekadrachm” in SAN XX.1 (1997), pp. 5-10; H.A. Hazard, Ptolemaic Coins (Toronto, 1995), c1052 (dodekadrachm); SNG Copenhagen –; BMC –. Toned, flan crack, edge broken and repaired, some porosity, scratches, a couple of chips at edge on reverse. VF.

From the Gerald F. Borrmann (Northern California Gentleman) Collection, purchased from Frank Kovacs, late 1990s.

The issue has traditionally been attributed to Berenike II, the daughter of Magas of Kyrene, and wife of Ptolemy III Euergetes. Hazard had proposed instead that it honored Berenike Syra, the sister of Ptolemy III and widow of the Seleukid king Antiochos II Theos. He argued that the coins were struck in Syria from locally-acquired silver to pay the Ptolemaic army deployed there to press the claim of Berenike’s child to the Seleukid throne, though the two had been murdered in the interim, and that these coins were carried back to Egypt by the soldiers as pay. However, his argument was contingent upon the recognition that these were struck on the Attic standard, which is now not accepted. As noted in CPE this issue actually was a silver companion to a massive gold double mnaieion (double oktadrachm), that together represented a ceremonial coinage at Alexandreia whose types suggested they were associated with the Third Syrian War. If so, they presumably were issued to celebrate the successful return of Ptolemy III to Egypt from the battlefield.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 127 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 17-18 September 2024. This lot is in Session One, which will begin 17 September at 9 AM 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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