| Heritage World Coin Auctions > NYINC Signature Sale 3113 | Auction date: 8 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 30056 Price realized: 13,000 USD (Approx. 11,851 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Ancients PTOLEMAIC EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter (323-282 BC). AV tetarte (1/10 trichryson) or triobol (hemidrachm) (12mm, 1.79 gm, 12h). NGC Choice AU★ 5/5 - 4/5, edge scuff. Alexandria, ca. 294-285 BC. Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, aegis tied around neck / ΠTOΛEMAIOY-BAΣIΛEΩΣ, eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings spread; MY monogram in left field. CPE 155. Svoronos 200. Solidly struck from fresh, sculptural dies. Only one of three tetartes to receive the star designation for superior eye appeal, and deservedly so. The lifelike portrait is immaculate, while each design element on the eagle is crisp and sharp as well. From the Wetmore Collection of Gold and Electrum. Ex Tkalec, October Auction (24 October 2003), lot 156. Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt, started out life as the son of the Macedonian nobleman Lagus; a later tale that he was an illegitimate son of Philip II (and thus Alexander's half-brother) was probably fabricated. He was a friend and intimate of Alexander III the Great from boyhood and accompanied him on his great career of conquests 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. The image of the elephant, which Macedonian armies first encountered on the battlefield in northern India, was prominently employed. The first tetradrachms and rare gold staters struck by Ptolemy during his satrapy depict Alexander wearing an elaborate elephant-skin headdress. After Ptolemy declared his own kingship in 305 BC, Alexander's head on the obverse was replaced by his own unequivocal portrait, making him the first Hellenistic monarch to take this step (though both Philip II and Alexander had used portraits of themselves "disguised" as the deities Zeus and Heracles). This amazing gold tetarte, struck late in his reign, shows Ptolemy wearing about his neck the protective aegis of Athena. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-ptolemaic-egypt-ptolemy-i-soter-323-282-bc-av-tetarte-1-10-trichryson-or-triobol-hemidrachm-12mm-1/a/3113-30056.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3113-01082024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 3000-4000 USD |  |
