Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3061 7-8 Jan 2018
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PTOLEMAIC EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter (305-282 BC). AR tetradrachm (28mm, 14.29 gm, 12h). NGC AU★ 5/5 - 4/5. Alexandria, ca. 300-285 BC. Diademed head right, wearing aegis around neck, tiny Δ behind ear / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠTOΛEMOY, Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; to left, P above monogram. Svoronos 255. SNG Copenhagen 70-1. Signed by the artist "Delta." Light deposit on reverse to left edge, otherwise a simply beautiful specimen, deeply struck from dies of superb style and beautifully toned, with considerable iridescence.
From the Northern California Collection. Acquired from Freeman & Sear, 2002-2003.
H.A. Hazard, writing in "Ptolemaic Coins" (1985), noted the appearance of a tiny letter Δ on certain finely-engraved tetradrachm dies issued from the Satrapal period of Ptolemy I (323-305 BC) to the early reign of his son and successor, Ptolemy II (281-246 BC). He believed this to be the signature of a particular engraver of exceptional talent, whose body of work set him apart from other numismatic artists of Egypt and elsewhere. According to Hazard, "no subsequent craftsman at the Alexandrine mint ever showed the same mastery of design and detail as Delta, and, in the opinion of this writer, he was the greatest engraver of the Hellenistic Age. So proud was he of his productions that he signed his initial Δ ... in the small space behind King Ptolemy's ear. Pyrrhus of Epirus and Seleucus of Syria, both residents of Ptolemy's court, later used Delta's designs for their own coinages; other Greek craftsmen also admired Delta and copied his designs at Ecbatana, Syracuse, Antioch, and other mints over the next five hundred years.''
HID02901242017
Estimate: 2500-3200 USD
PTOLEMAIC EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter (305-282 BC). AR tetradrachm (28mm, 14.29 gm, 12h). NGC AU★ 5/5 - 4/5. Alexandria, ca. 300-285 BC. Diademed head right, wearing aegis around neck, tiny Δ behind ear / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠTOΛEMOY, Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; to left, P above monogram. Svoronos 255. SNG Copenhagen 70-1. Signed by the artist "Delta." Light deposit on reverse to left edge, otherwise a simply beautiful specimen, deeply struck from dies of superb style and beautifully toned, with considerable iridescence.
From the Northern California Collection. Acquired from Freeman & Sear, 2002-2003.
H.A. Hazard, writing in "Ptolemaic Coins" (1985), noted the appearance of a tiny letter Δ on certain finely-engraved tetradrachm dies issued from the Satrapal period of Ptolemy I (323-305 BC) to the early reign of his son and successor, Ptolemy II (281-246 BC). He believed this to be the signature of a particular engraver of exceptional talent, whose body of work set him apart from other numismatic artists of Egypt and elsewhere. According to Hazard, "no subsequent craftsman at the Alexandrine mint ever showed the same mastery of design and detail as Delta, and, in the opinion of this writer, he was the greatest engraver of the Hellenistic Age. So proud was he of his productions that he signed his initial Δ ... in the small space behind King Ptolemy's ear. Pyrrhus of Epirus and Seleucus of Syria, both residents of Ptolemy's court, later used Delta's designs for their own coinages; other Greek craftsmen also admired Delta and copied his designs at Ecbatana, Syracuse, Antioch, and other mints over the next five hundred years.''
HID02901242017
Estimate: 2500-3200 USD