(Egypt & Kyrene)
EGYPT KYRENE
EGYPT
ONLY 10 KNOWN INCLUDING ONE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM 10353. A VERY RARE PTOLEMAIC BRONZE. EGYPT, PTOLEMY II?, c. 260 BC. Middle Eastern? mint. AE18, 7.05 g. 12h. Svoronos 792 (Plate XXV, #22), BMC 65, #29. Svoronos knew only the single BMC example. Laur. hd. Zeus Ammon right. Reverse: Eagle standing left on thunderbolt looking left, tripod to left and Π-T-O monogram to right of eagle. VF. Nice dark glossy green patina. Much better than photo. Only a few examples known. Very rare and missing from most collections. Only 2 other examples known including one in the British Museum.
Svoronos attributes these to Ptolemy II but the details, of style, and lettering suggest even Ptolemy III or even Ptolemy V. The eagle is similar to those on Ptolemy V portrait tetradrachms. The Ptolemy V coins with NI controls are said to be from 'military mints' of the 4th or 5th Syrian war. Perhaps this tripod type has a similar origin (middle East) while the others (791, 793) are believed to come from Western Turkey (Bodrum, Fethiye). Richard Ashton wrote an article on those arguing for the Turkish mints. The Ashton paper on coins at Fethiye (turkey) does not include these types. The 791 and 793 are plentiful there but not 792 with the Π-T-O symbol. Interesting also that a couple of earlier issue Ptolemaic bronzes are known with a tripod countermark and perhaps are related to these. One is a Tyre coin of Ptolemy III, the other of Ptolemy IV.
$350.
EXCELLENT EXAMPLE 9374. EGYPT, PTOLEMY II PHILADELPHOS. 285-246 BC. AE Hemiobol (22mm). Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 266-256 BC. Deified head of Alexander the Great right, wearing elephant skin headdress / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt. Svoronos 450; Weiser 31; SNG Copenhagen -; Laffaille 619 Ptolemy VI issued similar coins, but they have a mintmark in the reverse left field that looks like an A within a door frame, according to Svoronos, SNG Cop., and Sear. Good VF. Excellent example with perfect centering much superior to the Copenhagen plate coin.
SCARCE PTOLEMAIC PORTRAIT 10864. EGYPT, PTOLEMY III, 246-222 BC. AE (20mm, 6.33 g, 12h). Alexandreia mint. Struck 245 BC. Laureate bust right, wearing aegis / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; filleted cornucopia to right. Svoronos 1000; SNG Copenhagen 193. Good Fine, green patina, a few light scratches. Scarce Ptolemaic portrait coin.
EXCELLENT EXAMPLE 9369. EGYPT, PTOLEMY V EPIPHANES. 205-180 BC. Æ Trihemiobol (27mm, 18.89 g, 12h). Salamis mint. Struck circa 204-202 BC. Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right / Cult statue of Aphrodite standing facing on base; c/m: monogram in circular incuse. Svoronos 1005 (Ptolemy III); Weiser 125 (with monogram); SNG Copenhagen 644 (Ptolemy III) AEF. Rare. Excellent example considerably better than the Sear plate coin.
EXCELLENT EXAMPLE 9370. EGYPT, PTOLEMY V EPIPHANES. 205-180 BC. Æ Trihemiobol (27mm, 18.89 g, 12h). Salamis mint. Struck circa 204-202 BC. Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right / Cult statue of Aphrodite standing facing on base; c/m: monogram in circular incuse. Svoronos 1005 (Ptolemy III); Weiser 125 (with monogram); SNG Copenhagen 644 (Ptolemy III)246-222 BC. Excellent perfectly centered example considerably better than the Sear plate coin with nice contrasting patina.
CLEOPATRA OF EGYPT 9421. SCARCE PORTRAIT COIN OF THE FAMOUS CLEOPATRA OF EGYPT. CLEOPATRA VII, 51-30 BC. AE25 80 drachma, 16.67 g, BMC 4-5. Draped bust with diadem r./Eagle stg. on thunderbolt l., double cornucopia. RR! Good Fine with nice portrait for these which are almost always found in poor condition. This is an original contemporaneous portrait of the famous Cleopatra Thea, lover of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony.
THE LEGENDARY EXTINCT MEDICINAL SILPHION. 11282. KYRENAICA, KYRENE. Circa 308-277 BC. AR Didrachm (20mm, 7.74 g, 12h). Head of Karneios left / Silphion plant; I and monogram to upper right. Muller, Afrique 174; SNG Copenhagen 1239 var. (coiled serpent to left); BMC 246-8. Near VF, toned. With especially beautiful style and excellent metal. Provenance: From the Deyo Collection.
The silphium or silphion plant depicted on the reverse of this coin was perhaps the most famous medicinal plant of the ancient world and the primary export from Kyrene on the coast of N. Africa in modern Libya. A large plant of the fennel family it was very effective as a contraceptive and abortifacient. It also had additional medicinal uses and was even used in cooking. Demand for the plant was so great that it was apparently harvested to extinction in ancient times and the last known plant was said to have been presented to the emperor Nero as a gift. Thought to have been extinct since then some recent reports have claimed to have found small patches still growing in the wild in the Magreb.
The seed of the silphium plant was heart shaped and depicted as a heart on some of the smaller coins of Kyrene. In fact it may well be the original source of the heart shaped symbol now universally used to connote love because of the silphium's strong sexual connotations in antiquity.
