| Auctiones GmbH > eAuction 82 | Auction date: 17 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 25 Price realized: 8,000 CHF (Approx. 9,228 USD / 8,454 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Arsinoe II AV Mnaieion, Paphos Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt. Arsinoe II, wife of Ptolemy II (died 270 BC). AV Mnaieion or Octadrachm (28, 27.74 g), struck under Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204-180). Paphos, dated year 14 (=191 BC). Obv. Veiled head of Arsinoe II to right, wearing stephane; lotos-tipped scepter in background. Rev. ΑΡΣΙΝΟΗΣ ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ; Double cornucopiae bound with fillet and with two grape bunches hanging at sides; Π below, LIΔ in right field. Svoronos -, cf. 1319 (year 13) = JIAN 2 (1899), p. 208, 20 and pl. 10,3. Very rare and apparently unpublished. With a portrait of elegant style. The obverse about extremely fine, the reverse with some old cleaning scratches and very fine. From a Swiss Collection formed before World War II. Starting price: 6000 CHF |  |
Match 1:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 1816 Price realized: 11,000 CHF (Approx. 12,504 USD / 11,613 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Arsinoe II, wife of Ptolemy II, died 270 BC. Mnaieion or Oktadrachm (Gold, 27 mm, 27.53 g, 12 h), Alexandria, 254/3-253/2. Veiled head of Arsinoe II to right, wearing stephane; lotos-tipped scepter in background; to left, Θ. Rev. ΑΡΣΙΝΟΗΣ ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ Double cornucopiae bound with fillet and with two grape bunches hanging at sides. CPE 388. SNG Copenhagen 134. Svoronos 460. Well centered and clear. Faint cleaning scratches and edge marks, otherwise, good very fine. From the T. Frisbie Collection and that of Robert O. Ebert, Gemini V, 6 January 2009, 690. The impressive Ptolemaic Mnaieia took their name from the fact that they were valued at one Mina (or 100 drachms) in silver. Starting price: 2500 CHF |  |
Match 2:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 214 Price realized: 12,050 CHF (Approx. 13,698 USD / 12,721 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Arsinoe II, wife of Ptolemy II, died 270 BC. Mnaieion or Oktadrachm (Gold, 29 mm, 28.00 g, 12 h), Alexandria, struck under Ptolemy VI and/or VIII, circa 204-116. Veiled head of Arsinoe II to right, wearing stephane and ram's horn and with a lotus-tipped scepter over her left shoulder; behind, K. Rev. ΑΡΣΙΝΟΗΣ - ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ Double cornucopiae bound with fillet and with two grape bunches hanging at sides. Boston MFA 2293. Gulbenkian 1080. SNG Copenhagen 321–2. Svoronos 1498–9. A magnificent, boldly struck example with a wonderful portrait. Very light marks, otherwise, good extremely fine. From the James Knox Collection of Biblical related coins, privately acquired from Calgary Coin Gallery on 25 June 2015 and ex Classical Numismatic Group Web Shop, inv. no. 728863. A minor detail of these impressive gold coins is the ram's horn, which is hinted at below Arsinoe's ear. It has been suggested that it refers to Arsinoe's association with the ram-god Mendes, as we find it on the Mendes-Stele, where Ptolemy II decrees that a statue of his deceased sister-wife would appear with that of the god in every Egyptian nome. However, the iconography of the Ptolemaic gold coinage was mainly targeting a Graeco-Macedonian audience, which argues for an identification of the ram's horn with that of Zeus Ammon, a reference to Alexander the Great, who had established Macedonian rule in Egypt. Starting price: 5000 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Oslo Myntgalleri AS > Auction 38 | Auction date: 4 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 786 Price realized: 120,000 NOK (Approx. 10,848 USD / 10,149 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Arsinoë II, wife of Ptolemy II, died 270 BC. AV mnaieion/oktadrachm (27 mm; 27,88 g). Alexandria mint, struck under Ptolemy VI, circa 180-145 BC. Heard of Arsinoë right, veiled and wearing stephane; lotus-tipped scepter in background, K behind / APΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY, double cornucopia with grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet. Minor marks and short scratches in fields, and a few edge marks. Well struck and lustrous with light gold toning., Svoronos 1242, SNG Cop. 322, Grade: 01, Ex Classical Numismatic Group, online shop, inventory #: 783876 Starting price: 70000 NOK |  |
Match 4:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 382 Price realized: 23,750 USD (Approx. 21,753 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Berenike II, wife of Ptolemy III. Circa 244/3-221 BC. AR Pentakaidekadrachm (41.5mm, 51.81 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 (dodecadrachm); SNG Copenhagen –; BMC –. Toned. In NGC encapsulation 4531056-003, graded XF, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 2/5. Ex Heritage 3102 (2 November 2022), lot 31030; WTR Collection (Heritage 3097, 10 January 2022), lot 30039; John Whitney Walter Collection (Stack's Bowers Galleries, 16 August 2018), lot 20085; Stack's (2 December 1997), lot 644. 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. Estimate: 15000 USD |  |
Match 5:
| 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 |  |
