| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 379 Price realized: 11,000 USD (Approx. 10,075 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Arsinoe II Philadelphos. Died 270/268 BC. AV Mnaïeion – 'Oktadrachm' (29mm, 27.67 g, 11h). Alexandreia mint. Struck under Ptolemy VI or Ptolemy VIII, circa 180-145 or 145-116 BC. Head right with ram's horn, veiled and wearing stephane; lotus-tipped scepter in background, K to left / APΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY, double cornucopia, grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet. Olivier Group 7, 3463–70 (obv. die D39); Svoronos 1499β (same obv. die); SNG Copenhagen 322; BMC 45; Boston MFA 2298; Hermitage Sale II 1577–8; Pozzi 3247. Slight wave in flan, minor scratches, edge bump. Good VF. Ex Freeman & Sear inventory G8875 (ND; incorrectly as Svoronos 475). Estimate: 7500 USD |  |
Match 1:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 377 Price realized: 17,000 USD (Approx. 15,570 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Arsinoe II Philadelphos. Died 270/268 BC. AV Mnaieion – 'Oktadrachm' (29mm, 27.78 g, 11h). Alexandreia mint. Struck under Ptolemy II, circa 252/1-250/49 BC. Head right with ram's horn, veiled and wearing stephane; lotus-tipped scepter in background, K to left / APΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY, double cornucopia, grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet. CPE 390; Svoronos 475; Olivier & Lorber dies 1/16, 233 (this coin); Troxell, Arsinoe, Group 3, p. 44 and pl. 7, 3 (same obv. die); SNG Copenhagen –; Adams –; Boston MFA 2268 (same obv. die); BMC 10 (same dies); Pozzi 3223 (same obv. die). Lustrous. Near EF. From the Father & Son Collection. Ex Weise Collection (Triton XXIII, 14 January 2020), lot 524, purchased from CNG, 16 September 2000; Victor Adda Collection (Leu 77, 11 May 2000), lot 383. Estimate: 10000 USD |  |
Match 2:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Auction 126 | Auction date: 28 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 370 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Arsinoe II Philadelphos. Died 270/268 BC. AR Dekadrachm (34.5mm, 35.13 g, 11h). Alexandreia mint. Struck under Ptolemy II, circa 270-261/0 BC. Head right, with ram's horn, veiled and wearing stephane; lotus-tipped scepter in background / APΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY, double cornucopia with grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet. CPE 320 (Ptolemy II); Svoronos 409; Troxell, Arsinoe, Group 3, p. 41 and pl. 2, 1 (same obv. die); SNG Copenhagen –. Lightly toned, traces of find patina, spots of porosity and roughness, some marks. Near EF. From the very rare first issue of Arsinoe dekadrachms, the sole unmarked issue in the series. Arsinoe II, daughter of Ptolemy I and Berenike I, was born in 316 BC. Her early life saw her married off to Lysimachos of Thrace at the age of 15 and then to her half-brother, the brutal Ptolemy Keraunos. She conspired against the latter and was forced to flee circa 280 BC to the protection of Egypt, ruled by her younger full brother, Ptolemy II. Her beauty, charm and intelligence utterly captivated Ptolemy, and, after eliminating his previous wife with an accusation of treason, Arsinoe married her brother, probably about 276 BC. Sibling marriage was traditional among Egyptian royalty, but among the Greeks it was known only between deities; thus their union advanced the concept of rulers being worshipped as divinities. Though unscrupulous, Arsinoe proved a capable queen and co-ruler, taking charge of Egypt's foreign affairs. Her death in 270 or 268 BC was marked by her full deification and a huge outpouring of gold and silver coinage bearing her veiled portrait. The ram's horn just visible emerging from the veil is a further symbol of her deification, reminiscent of the horn of Ammon on images of the deified Alexander. Estimate: 10000 USD |  |
Match 3:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 376 Price realized: 45,000 USD (Approx. 41,216 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Arsinoe II Philadelphos. Died 270/268 BC. AR Dekadrachm (34.5mm, 35.62 g, 12h). Alexandreia mint. Struck under Ptolemy II, circa 261/0-253/2 BC. Head right, with ram's horn, veiled and wearing stephane; lotus-tipped scepter in background, AA to left / APΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY, double cornucopia with grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet. CPE 343 (Ptolemy II); Svoronos 937; Troxell, Arsinoe, Group 3, p. 43 and pl. 6, 5 (same obv. die); SNG Copenhagen –; Pozzi 3228 (this coin). Lovely old iridescent tone, a few minor scratches under tone, a couple of tiny nicks on obverse, trace deposits on reverse. Good VF. Very rare, ten examples noted by Troxell, and two additional in CoinArchives. Ex Prof. S. Pozzi Collection (Naville I, 14 March 1921), lot 3228. Arsinoe II, daughter of Ptolemy I and Berenike I, was born in 316 BC. Her early life saw her married off to Lysimachos of Thrace at the age of 15 and then to her half-brother, the brutal Ptolemy Keraunos. She conspired against the latter and was forced to flee circa 280 BC to the protection of Egypt, ruled by her younger full brother, Ptolemy II. Her beauty, charm and intelligence utterly captivated Ptolemy, and, after eliminating his previous wife with an accusation of treason, Arsinoe married her brother, probably about 276 BC. Sibling marriage was traditional among Egyptian royalty but among the Greeks it was known only among deities; thus their union advanced the concept of rulers being worshipped as divinities. Though unscrupulous, Arsinoe proved a capable queen and co-ruler, taking charge of Egypt's foreign affairs. Her death in 270 or 268 BC was marked by her full deification and a huge outpouring of gold and silver coinage bearing her veiled portrait. The ram's horn just visible emerging from the veil is a further symbol of her deification, reminiscent of the horn of Ammon on images of the deified Alexander. Estimate: 20000 USD |  |
Match 4:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 378 Price realized: 18,000 USD (Approx. 16,486 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Arsinoe II Philadelphos. Died 270/268 BC. AV Half Mnaïeion – 'Tetradrachm' (21.5mm, 14.04 g, 11h). Alexandreia mint. Struck under Ptolemy VI, circa 180-145 BC. Head right with ram's horn, veiled and wearing stephane; lotus-tipped scepter in background, K to left / APΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY, double cornucopia, grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet. Olivier Group 2, 3384 (D14/R21) = SNG Lockett 3446 = Bement 1860 (this coin); Svoronos 1500; SNG Copenhagen –; BMC 40; Boston MFA –; Consul Weber 4511; Hirsch 1829; Gulbenkian 1085; Hunterian p. 391, 5; De Luynes 3599; Noeske –. In NGC encapsulation 5785794-004, graded Ch AU, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 2/5, smoothing. Two small cuts on obverse, visible in Bement and Lockett catalogs, previously repaired, but not noted on the NGC slab (the smoothed areas they note correspond to the repairs). Ex Richard Cyril Lockett Collection (Greek Part IV, Glendining, 21 February 1961), lot 2828; Clarence S. Bement Collection (Part II, Naville VII, 23 June 1924), lot 1860, acquired from Sir Hermann Weber (†1918). Estimate: 20000 USD |  |
Match 5:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 384 Price realized: 2,750 USD (Approx. 2,519 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy IV Philopator. 222-205/4 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26.5mm, 14.09 g, 11h). Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 219-217 BC. Jugate draped busts right of Serapis and Isis / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠTOΛEMAIOY, eagle standing left, head right, on thunderbolt; filleted double cornucopia over shoulder, ΔI between legs. CPE 892; Svoronos 1123–4; Landvatter Group 4, 51 (O12/R41); SNG Copenhagen 197-8; Noeske 139; Boston MFA 2284; SNG Berry 1488; Dewing 2760. Traces of die rust on obverse, hairline in field on reverse. Good VF. This type is thought to have been issued in celebration of the Ptolemaic victory over the Seleukids at the battle of Raphia during the Fourth Syrian War. Official propaganda proclaimed that these two deities, Serapis and Isis, had intervened on behalf of the Egyptians, saving them from defeat (see C. Lorber, "The Ptolemaic Era Coinage Revisited," NC 2007, p. 116, and L. Bricault, "Serapis et Isis, Sauveurs de Ptolémé IV à Raphia," Chronique d'Égypte LXXIV (1999), pp. 334-43). Thomas Landvatter, in his die study cited above that appeared in the 2012 ANS American Journal of Numismatics (Second Series, Vol. 24, p. 88), suggests that this issue was "carrying a very specific ideological message directed more widely throughout the empire: Ptolemy IV was equating himself and his wife Arsinoe with the divine sibling-spouses Serapis and Isis." Landvatter also notes that "[t]his was an ideological statement made during wartime, meant to have wide appeal and explicitly associate the Ptolemaic king and queen with two of the most popular deities in the Eastern Mediterranean." Indeed, the popularity of the Serapis/Isis cult would outlive the Ptolemaic dynasty and continue well into the Roman Imperial period, only to be eventually usurped by the Christian and Muslim faiths. Estimate: 2000 USD |  |
