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Auction X 13 January 2013
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Ptolemaic Kingdom. Ptolemy III, In the Name of Berenice II. 246-221 BC. Pentekaidecadrachm (15 drachms of the Ptolemaic standard), previously believed to a dodecadrachm, 52.68g. (12h). AlexandriaObv: Diademed and veiled bust of Berenice II right. Rx: ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΒΕΡΕΝΙΚΗΣ Cornucopia bound with fillet between laureate caps of the Dioscuri. Svoronos 988, pl. 35, 2. D. Vagi, 'The Ptolemaic Pentakaidekadrachm', SAN XX.1 cover story (1997), pp. 5-10. H.A. Hazzard, Ptolemaic Coins (Toronto, 1995), c1052 (dodecadrachm). SNG Cop. -. Noeske -. Boston MFA -. SNG Berry -. This is one of the largest silver coins ever struck by the Greeks. Less than forty recorded. Usual but minor flan crack at 3h. EF.
Ex Sotheby's Zurich, 27 October 1993, lot 937. Ex NFA XXX, 1992, lot 178 (sold for $48K)..
Berenice II was one of the strong personalities among ancient queens. A daughter of Magas, ruler of Cyrene, Berenice was first engaged to Ptolemy III. However, after Magas died, she had to marry a brother of the king of Macedon, Antigonus Gonatas. But when Antigonus was murdered, she eventually (in 246 BC) married her first intended husband, the king of Egypt, Ptolemy III. When Ptolemy departed on a campaign soon thereafter, Berenice deposited a lock of her hair in a sanctuary as a pledge for his safe return. Allegedly, this lock of hair disappeared from the temple was placed among the stars by the gods, as Callimachus relates in a famous poem. Ruling together with her husband, Berenice had the official title "Sister and wife of the king", and was venerated as Isis and Aphrodite. After Ptolemy III died in 221 BC, her attempt to assume the regency for her son Ptolemy (IV) failed, and she was murdered. Our coin gives an idea of her personality: with one of the largest silver denominations ever struck in antiquity (only a Bactrian king issued larger ones), the queen was exceptionally revered by the royal mint.
Ex Sotheby's Zurich, 27 October 1993, lot 937. Ex NFA XXX, 1992, lot 178 (sold for $48K)..
Berenice II was one of the strong personalities among ancient queens. A daughter of Magas, ruler of Cyrene, Berenice was first engaged to Ptolemy III. However, after Magas died, she had to marry a brother of the king of Macedon, Antigonus Gonatas. But when Antigonus was murdered, she eventually (in 246 BC) married her first intended husband, the king of Egypt, Ptolemy III. When Ptolemy departed on a campaign soon thereafter, Berenice deposited a lock of her hair in a sanctuary as a pledge for his safe return. Allegedly, this lock of hair disappeared from the temple was placed among the stars by the gods, as Callimachus relates in a famous poem. Ruling together with her husband, Berenice had the official title "Sister and wife of the king", and was venerated as Isis and Aphrodite. After Ptolemy III died in 221 BC, her attempt to assume the regency for her son Ptolemy (IV) failed, and she was murdered. Our coin gives an idea of her personality: with one of the largest silver denominations ever struck in antiquity (only a Bactrian king issued larger ones), the queen was exceptionally revered by the royal mint.