Ptolemy ID help please

Happy New Year to you all..... I have been away for some time and have missed the forum. I hope you are all still well......

For some time now I have wanted to own a large Ptolemaic bronze... I confess to not knowing much about the coins or indeed the dynasty, but I do like the look and feel of them having viewed a few at coin fairs.

I once saw one I really liked, but it was £250 GBP, which is more than I wanted to spend, so I held back waiting for the right coin within my budget.

Just recently I managed to acquire a joblot of 6 bronze coins which I think are all from the Ptolemaic dynasty..... The seller knew less than me about them and we agreed a price for the 6. 3 of the coins are in my opinion quite attractive and the other 3 are quite rough with 2 having bronze disease. I intend to treat them soon.

I am keen to have them attributed and also for an idea of value if possible as I have no idea whether I did well or not , but have no books with which to do this. If anyone can help with the attribution, or give me a head start with a good online resource, I would be very grateful.

I will now post them individually as Ptolemy coin 1 ID please ..... etc. with weight and diameter.

Thanks again.....

YOC

 

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We ancient folks here have a soft slot for Ptolemy bronzes!

 

We missed you YOC. Hope all is well. BTW, nice lot of coins ya got there.

 

Thanks Bing.....glad to be back, I've missed cointalk and the ancient crew.

 

As far as I know Svoronos (published 1904) still is the important work to look up your AE Egyptian Ptolemies. A book that's not easy to find, but this is a useful extract on the internet.

 

Now comes the difficult part.... I can only keep 2 of these, the theory being that if I keep 2 and sell the rest, the coins will have been free (ish).
I paid £90 for all of them (total)
which 2 would you keep?
The centre coin is a given for me due to the great portrait, and then its either the very large 74g coin to the left due to its size/weight or the coin to the right , again due to its great portrait....
I cant decide....aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhh!!

 

I would pick the centre one with the great portrait, and the Svoronos 974 on the right, which to me seems like the best coin all-around. With these one always tends to lean towards the biggies, but if I were you I would sell the 74g and allow the hunt to continue for a really nice example.

 

Can we see the reverses?

Best site for attributing
http://ptolemybronze.com

Edit: Your other posts have just shown up, my computer must be a bit slow this morning

 

Could you show us the reverses of the coins? And what's the weight of the coins, are they all different? By the way, 90 pounds is not much.

 

He showed all of them (both sides, with weights and sizes) in individual posts.

See his "Ptolemy ID 1 Help Please", "Ptolemy ID help 2..." etc posts.

 

YOC has 5 other threads below this one where he shows both sides with their weights and dimensions.

 

Thanks, now I see.

 

+1

 

Welcome back YOC. It is good to see you again.

If it were me I would keep middle, and right! Beauty coins.

 

welcome back YOC!

sorry, i'm of no help with attribution. however, i like the coins you posted in the ID threads as number 3 and 4, (center and right)..i would keep those two. Seem to have the best details.

 

Ed Waddell's site has a digital copy of Svoronos's book on his web site www.coin.com. The book is indeed scarce, so this digital version is invaluable to collectors of Ptolemaic coinage. Enjoy. I agree with Bing's selection. Always go for the best condition.

Cheers,

 

Thanks all for your suggestions. You have helped greatly.... I shall keep centre and right. The search for a very nice biggie will go on....I am not a great fan of fillers, so the other 4 will be off to a new home soon. I reckon I'll need 2-300 £gbp for the grade of biggie I am after..... so may have to wait a few years....
YOC