| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 272 Price realized: 17,000 GBP (Approx. 21,535 USD / 19,828 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Arsinoe II (wife of Ptolemy II) AV Mnaieon (Oktadrachm). Struck under Ptolemy VI-VIII. Alexandria, circa 180-116 BC. Veiled head of deified Arsinoe with ram's horn to right, wearing diademed stephane, sceptre surmounted by lotus over left shoulder; K to left / Double cornucopiae, grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet; APΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY around. Svoronos 1498-9; SNG Copenhagen 322; Troxell p. 67, 8. NGC graded Ch AU 5/5 - 2/5, brushed (#6674413-002). Ex Morton & Eden, Auction 119, 6 December 2022, lot 65 (hammer: GBP 26,000). The daughter of Ptolemy I and his wife Berenike, Arsinoe II was born in 316 BC in the nascent Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt. After a swift political marriage to Lysimachos of Thrace at the age of fifteen, she was married again to Ptolemy Keraunos, her half-brother, but fled Macedon immediately after the wedding to the protection of Egypt, which had passed to her younger brother Ptolemy II. The two gained the epithet 'Philadelphoi' or 'sibling-lover' after they married in 273-272 BC: the practice of sibling marriage was traditional for Egyptian pharaohs, but was known only to the Greeks in deities such as Zeus and Hera. However, their marriage provided a model which was followed by most subsequent Ptolemaic monarchs, and its divine connotations only advanced their power. The image of Arsinoe here portrays a beautiful and serene queen, with considerable attention devoted to her curled hairstyle and the drape of her veil, while her usual attributes of cornucopiae associate her with peace and prosperity. She was considered a capable co-ruler who directed Egypt's foreign affairs, and her death prompted a great outpouring of gold coinage to mark her full deification, emphasised in this portrait by a glimpse of a ram's horn emerging from her veil, reminiscent of the horn of Ammon on images of the deified Alexander the Great. Estimate: 22500 GBP |  |
Match 1:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 271 Price realized: 4,600 GBP (Approx. 5,827 USD / 5,365 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Arsinoe II (wife of Ptolemy II) AR Dekadrachm. Alexandria, posthumous issue under Ptolemy II, circa 253-249 BC. Veiled head of deified Arsinoe with ram's horn to right, wearing diademed stephane, sceptre surmounted by lotus over left shoulder; KK in left field / Double cornucopiae, grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet; AΡΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY around. CPE 352; Svoronos 945 (dated 237 BC under Ptolemy III, 1 example listed) = BMC 25; Troxell, 'Arsinoe's Non-Era' in Museum Notes 28 (1983), p. 44 (7 examples, dated circa 253/2-246 BC). 35.00g, 33mm, 12h. Extremely Fine; scuff to obverse. Very Rare. Estimate: 2500 GBP |  |
Match 2:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 270 Price realized: 4,800 GBP (Approx. 6,081 USD / 5,598 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Arsinoe II (wife of Ptolemy II) AR Dekadrachm. Alexandria, posthumous issue under Ptolemy II, circa 261-252 BC. Veiled head of deified Arsinoe with ram's horn to right, wearing diademed stephane, sceptre surmounted by lotus over left shoulder; P in left field / Double cornucopiae, grape bunches hanging at sides, bound with fillet; AΡΣINOHΣ ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOY around. CPE 335; Svoronos 496 (dated 254 BC); BMC 17; SNG Copenhagen 135; Troxell, 'Arsinoe's Non-Era' in Museum Notes 28 (1983), p. 42. 34.82g, 35mm, 12h. Near Extremely Fine. Very Rare; six examples known to Svoronos and only two on CoinArchives. Estimate: 2000 GBP |  |
Match 3:
| 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 4:
| 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 5:
| 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 |  |
