I just picked this up at the Westchester Coin Show. The only information that came with it was "Ptolemy II." The coin is 38 mm and weighs 45.3 g. I've been poking around online to learn a little more about it. I don't think it's of Ptolemy II; I think it's either Ptolemy III or Ptolemy IV. I've seen coins of both emperors with the eagle looking right and a cornucopia behind on the reverse. Both emperors have coins similar to this with the "E" monogram between the eagle's legs. Stylistically, the coin looks more like the examples of Ptolemy IV that I've seen, but I've seen only a couple examples of each so far, so I'm not sure this is relevant. Can anyone tell me how to distinguish coins of Ptolemy III with this reverse type from those of Ptolemy IV? Many of the coins I've seen online have a Svoronos catalog number. Can anyone tell me the title of the work that these catalog numbers numbers refer to?
http://www.ptolemybronze.com/ is the place to go for all of these questions. Attributing these coins is often tough, and the scholarship has changed (and keeps changing). The website linked above is the most up-to-date out there in terms of reassignments and such. You can find Svoronos's catalog and plates on that site. I think yours is Ptolemy III, like this one: EGYPT. Ptolemy III Euergetes 246-222 BCE AE38, 44.0gm Obv: Head of Zeus Ammon right with ram's horn, wearing taenia diadem Rev: ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ BΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ; eagle with closed wings standing left on thunderbolt, cornucopia over shoulder; E between legs Ref: Svoronos 974 The E is funky, almost like monogram, and I vaguely recall reading something about that-- maybe here on CoinTalk. Heck, maybe I even wrote about it. Can't remember what though, and I can't find it when searching (too many Ptolemy posts in my name).
Thanks TIF. You are right, my coin does look a lot like your. Do you know the mint city? Is it Alexandria?
Yes, struck in Alexandria. I found where I read about the E-- right there in front of my eyeballs on PtolemyBronze's website, right above this coin type's series. Man... my brain isn't firing on all cylinders tonight. "The E monogram types are also well known to exist in some variations with closed loops at the top of the E and similar morphologies. The 2nd size E monogram (Sv974 and variants of the E morphology) coins are very plentiful, among the most common types of Ptolemaic bronzes."
I recently got one of this type with leftover Christmas money. Nice, hefty things. I came to the same conclusion, that mine is likely Ptolemy III. Haven't been able to distinguish whether it is a tetrobol or a hemidrachm. Or are those the same?
Ok, WAY cool @gsimonel ... nice to get yours attributed. Nice "little" guy you have! @TIF, thanks for pointing us to that site. I had a little fun better attributing mine, based on the devices... I hope I have the devices correct... PTOLEMY III: Egypt Ptolemy III AE Tet 41mm 7.2mm thick 67.5g Zeus Ammon Eagle Cornucopia - (I THINK with a XP Chi-Rho between Eagle legs?...) Egypt Ptolemy III 245-222 BC AE 34mm 31g HemiDrachm Zeus-Ammon Eagle Tbolt Cornucopia XP Chi-Rho SV 965 Egypt Ptolemy III Euergetes 246-222 BCE AE Chalkous 12.0mm 2.0g Zeus-Ammon Eagle Trident Svoronos 840 ex Righetti Collection
Have you checked the web site that TIF referred me too? http://ptolemybronze.com/ptolemy_series.html The hemidrachms tend to have a club or cornucopiae in the left field in front of the eagle. Compare these 4 issues: Ptolemy III Alexandria EPSILON or LAMDA or 'Plain' Series 4 Ptolemy III - Early Post-Reform Lotus Blossom Series 4 The two issues above are listed as containing tetrobols. The next two issues include hemidrachms: Ptolemy III Alexandria Cornucopia with CHI/RHO and PLAIN (No Control) Series 5 Ptolemy III Tyre Club Series 5 TIF was right, BTW, this is an outstanding website for information about Ptolemaic coins.
The title of the Svoronos book is "Ta Nomismata tou Kratous ton Ptolemaion" and it was written in 1904 in Greek. To my knowledge it has been out if print for decades and there aren't any published volumes in English. When it does come up for sale it commands very high prices. The book has also become a bit obsolete given its age and the 100+ years of further scholarship. The best you can do is the ptolemybronze site TIF provided a link to. There is supposed to be a new work on the coins of the Ptolemaic dynasty coming out in several volumes, but the release date keeps getting pushed back. Currently it is June of 2018.
Last night I noticed the attribution for at least one of my coins has changed since I last attributed it-- my 48 mm "octobol" is now thought to be from Ptolemy III rather than Ptolemy II. Looks like I should go through all of my Ptolemy bronzes again.
I think I'm in the same position, all of my attributions are old and I'm not eve sure they were right when I did them. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I don't have many Ptolemaic bronzes to trouble myself with.
At least my OP didn't turn out to be Ptolemy IV, which seemed like a possibility originally. He was kind of a turd, wasn't he?
The same can be said of a lot of ancient coins, if you don't like the attribution just wait a few years, it will change. Look at Judaean coins if you have any doubts.
