A Poor Man's Cleopatra

Excellent, Phil... just excellent.

 

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Here is my VERY humble Cleo VII:


Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, 51-30 BCE.
AE 40 drachmai; 21.0 mm; 7.32 gm.
Alexandria mint, 51-30 BCE.
Obv: Diademed head of Cleopatra, hair in bun at back of head, facing right.
Rev: [ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ], eagle standing left on thunderbolt, double cornucopiae in field to left, M (for 40) to right.
Refs: Sear Greek 7956; Svoronos 1872; BMC 6; Vagi 212; Forrer 110.

 

Particularly, the reverse looks usually very worn on these drachms :-(

My two Cleopatras:

Æ Half-unit (40 Drachms), Alexandria, 51 - 30 BC
20 mm, 7.805 g
SNG Copenhagen 422-424; Svoronos 1872

Ob.: Diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra to r.
Rev.: ΚΛΕOΠΑΤΡΑΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ; Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; cornucopiae to left, M (= 40) in right field.

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and this one; it should also be an Æ Half-unit, but I keep seeing Π instead of an M in the right field of the reverse; maybe I need a good pair of glasses or some forger turned an M into a Π

21 x 22 mm, 7.457 g

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Lovely coins, its crazy how expensive these are considering how worn they often are!

 

WOOOW. Excellent coin. Congrats

 

My own humble, but much loved, Cleo & Antony fourree:

 

@AncientJoe ,@Volodya - splendid coins.

My example is a small bronze from Syria. Chalkis and the Ituraean Tetrarchy were given to Cleopatra in 37 B.C. by Antony after defeating the local dynast.
It is dated 32/31 B.C. so may well be the last portrait of her before her death. These are quite rare in decent condition, so I was pleased to find one.



Coele-Syria, Chalcis ad Libanum, M. Antonius and Cleopatra VII (32-31 BC), Æ, 19.5mm, Syria, Chalcis Mint, 6.05g,

BACIΛICCAC KΛЄOΠATPAC Draped bust of Cleopatra to right, wearing stephane
ЄTOYC KA TOY KAI ς ΘЄAC NЄωTEPAC Bare head of Antony to right

(RPC I, 4771; Rouvier 440 (Berytus); Sofaer 43; SNG [Copenhagen] 382 - Phoenicia),
HGC 9 1451

 

I studied at UCLA for a total of 3 degrees and never knew the classics Dept had a coin collection.

Ironically, I even worked at the Young Research Library and never knew about the classics library.

Maybe its time to take a visit and go hunting...

 

Another poor mans Cleopatra. Only 160 usd ;P
80 drachmai or diobol, 17.35 g.

 

By my standards, this Cleopatra 80 Drachmae was a bit of a splurge. I suppose I'd categorize this one as a "Lower-Middle-Class Man's Cleo"

 

This one was struck at Tripoli- Phoenicia. Reverse shows Nike standing by a Phoenician ship. It reads Tripoliton in Greek.

 

These 40 or 80 drachmas AE coins of Cleopatra almost always come in very worn and corroded condition.


This one (not my coin) was found in Saudi Arabia

 

Here's a question, what is the highest grade Cleo coin in existence?

 

British Museum has quite a few very nice ones. Here's one of their Cleopatra portrait Tetradrachms:

(their catalog record)

Here are some better ones from the private market:

A nice Cleopatra portrait Tetradrachm: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3711885

This Antony / Cleopatra Tetradrachm is pretty good: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5573982

Here's a pretty nice Cleopatra/Antony Denarius: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3712121

Nice Cleopatra bronze: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6333934