Watch List notes:

Greek Coins
Ptolemy IV, 221 – 205 and posthumous issues

Tetradrachm, Alexandria or Provincial mint 221-203, AR 14.20 g. Joined draped busts r. of Serapis, wreathed, and Isis, diademed. Rev. ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ – ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ??Eagle standing l. on thunderbolt; behind, cornucopiae. Svoronos 1123 var. (without letters on reverse) = SNG Copenhagen 157 var. = Dewing 2760 var. Ciani sale 1925, Allotte de la Fuye, 1705.
An exceedingly rare variety and in exceptional state of preservation, among the
finest specimens known of this desirable issue. Two appealing portraits of
fine style and an enchanting old cabinet tone, extremely fine
Ex M&M 61, 1982, 222 and Hess-Divo 307, 2007, 1366 sales.This distinctive issue breaks from the usual pattern of Ptolemaic tetradrachms, which habitually depict the dynastic founder, Ptolemy I, or, on very rare occasions, the reigning monarch. Instead, it portrays the draped busts of Serapis and Isis, which perhaps was meant to symbolize the special devotion that Ptolemy IV and his sister-wife Arsinoe III professed to these dynastic gods.That break in precedent indicates that an important, commemorative function was performed by this issue. Lorber suggests it was struck during the Fourth Syrian War (219-216 B.C.) in celebration of Ptolemy IV's defeat of the armies of Antiochus III at Raphia on 22 June, 217 B.C., because Serapis and Isis were said to have played a role in the triumph of the Ptolemaic army. Even beyond these coins, however, there is ample evidence of royal patronage for Serapis and Isis during the reign of Ptolemy IV, including foundation coins for a shrine to Harpocrates in the Alexandrian Serapeum, which Ptolemy IV ostensibly constructed at the command of Serapis and Isis