Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Keystone Auction 8 23 Aug 2022
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. temp. Ptolemy VIII – Kleopatra VII. Mid 2nd-1st centuries BC. Æ Dichalkon(?) (13mm, 1.44 g, 11h). Paphos mint. Draped bust of Aphrodite right, wearing stephanos / Diademed cornucopia. Svoronos 1161 (Ptolemy IV); SNG Copenhagen 649–50 (Ptolemy IV); Paphos II 60–158 (Ptolemy IV). Glossy brown patina, metal flaw on reverse. Fine.
From the Ken Bressett Collection.
This coin has traditionally been attributed to the reign of Ptolemy IV, under the belief that the obverse bore a portrait of Arsinoë III. M. Kreuzer, in his book The Coinage System of Cleopatra VII and Augustus in Cyprus, asserted that the portrait was actually that of Kleopatra, and that the coins were struck on Cyprus. While the sizable number of these coins found in the Paphos excavations support their assignment to that mint, the identification of the portrait as Kleopatra was speculative. Cathy Lorber will address this issue in a chapter in the forthcoming Part II of her corpus on Ptolemaic coinage. There, she argues that the obverse cannot be a portrait of any Ptolemaic personage, but rather the portrait of the goddess Aphrodite. She also notes that the find data suggests a much later date than Ptolemy IV, in the mid 2nd to 1st centuries BC.
From the Ken Bressett Collection.
This coin has traditionally been attributed to the reign of Ptolemy IV, under the belief that the obverse bore a portrait of Arsinoë III. M. Kreuzer, in his book The Coinage System of Cleopatra VII and Augustus in Cyprus, asserted that the portrait was actually that of Kleopatra, and that the coins were struck on Cyprus. While the sizable number of these coins found in the Paphos excavations support their assignment to that mint, the identification of the portrait as Kleopatra was speculative. Cathy Lorber will address this issue in a chapter in the forthcoming Part II of her corpus on Ptolemaic coinage. There, she argues that the obverse cannot be a portrait of any Ptolemaic personage, but rather the portrait of the goddess Aphrodite. She also notes that the find data suggests a much later date than Ptolemy IV, in the mid 2nd to 1st centuries BC.