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PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. temp. Ptolemy IX to Ptolemy XII. Circa 116-51 BC. Æ (30mm, 17.98 g, 12h). Uncertain mint. Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right / Two eagles with their wings closed standing left on thunderbolt; to left, small bird (dove?) standing left, head right. Unpublished in the standard references. Dark brown patina, weakly struck, areas of roughness. Fine. Possibly unique.
The small bird, probably a dove, used as a symbol in the left field is unrecorded on any other Ptolemaic bronzes, but does occur on rare silver issues of Ptolemy VI, as well as a series of extremely rare silver pieces attributed to Ptolemy XII Auletes–Ptolemy XV struck at the city of Askelon in Judaea. On his website, ptolemybronze.com, Dan Wolf identifies a group of coins with types similar to the present issue that feature a variety of unusual symbols in the left field. None of these are currently attributed to a specific ruler, but he mentions that “[t]hese coins seem to belong together on the basis of style, often 'knife-edge' fabric, and the profusion of symbols next to the eagles on the reverse. A convergence of evidence links these types with a wide variety of unusual symbols to the time of Ptolemy IX - X, who competed and fought one another for rule of Egypt and Cyprus and during whose reigns a wide variety of similar symbols appeared on tetradrachms during a short time period. The exact meaning of the symbols is not known and, unlike many other Ptolemaic coin issues, they do not appear to indicate mintmarks because they are quite varied....”
Closing Date and Time: 23 June 2021 at 11:24:40 ET.
All winning bids are subject to an 18% buyer’s fee.
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