The New York Sale
Auction 48 14 Jan 2020
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Ptolemaic Kingdom. Ptolemy I Soter. Silver Tetradrachm (15.34 g), as King, 305-282 BC. Alexandria, intermediate weight issue, ca. 309-305 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, wearing elephant's skin headdress. Reverse: AΛEΞANΔPOY, Athena advancing right, brandishing spear held and holding forth shield; in right field, monogram, and eagle standing right on thunderbolt. Svoronos 107; SNG Copenhagen 25. NGC grade Ch XF; Strike: 5/5, Surface: 3/5. Graffiti. Value $2,000 - UP
A close boyhood friend of Alexander, Ptolemy, son of the Macedonian Lagus, became one of the conqueror's most trusted generals and distinguished himself in the destruction of the Persian Empire. After Alexander's death, he received Egypt as his share of the inheritance and over the following four decades he created a stable and prosperous kingdom. For the first eighteen years of his rule he was officially only 'satrap' of Egypt, but in 305 B.C. he took the title of 'king' along with several other 'successors' of Alexander. Twenty years later, he associated his son, Ptolemy II, with him as co-ruler, and in 283 B.C. he died peacefully in his bed, the only one of the Diadochi to do so. Most of our knowledge of the life of Alexander is derived from a history written by Ptolemy. The work itself is now lost, but it was the main source for the Roman historian Arrian's History of Alexander and the Indike, an account of India.
From the Northern California Collection. Acquired from Palladium Numismatics, 1994.
A close boyhood friend of Alexander, Ptolemy, son of the Macedonian Lagus, became one of the conqueror's most trusted generals and distinguished himself in the destruction of the Persian Empire. After Alexander's death, he received Egypt as his share of the inheritance and over the following four decades he created a stable and prosperous kingdom. For the first eighteen years of his rule he was officially only 'satrap' of Egypt, but in 305 B.C. he took the title of 'king' along with several other 'successors' of Alexander. Twenty years later, he associated his son, Ptolemy II, with him as co-ruler, and in 283 B.C. he died peacefully in his bed, the only one of the Diadochi to do so. Most of our knowledge of the life of Alexander is derived from a history written by Ptolemy. The work itself is now lost, but it was the main source for the Roman historian Arrian's History of Alexander and the Indike, an account of India.
From the Northern California Collection. Acquired from Palladium Numismatics, 1994.