Attractive Tet. In almost every coin of the ancient Greek and Seleucid reign, there's something specific regarding the engraver's style. Notice the open beak of the eagle on reverse.
Neat. But is it open- like, gaping wide open, or is that just an outcurving feather coming off its neck?
I like the huge bronzes, but find those central dimples distracting sometimes. Those sure are fun to hold in one's hand, however. I won't rule one out for the future. I find the Ptolemaic period interesting (what little I've read so far), but the sameness of the coin designs sometimes gets to me (much as it does with Byzantines at times). I'm sure that sameness and consistency made good sense in ancient commerce, but the modern collector in me likes more variety. There's no shortage of that in the classical Greek coins. I want an appealing Cleopatra VII coin some day. Who among us doesn't, in the "have nots" club?
I've been trying to get a decent large bronze at a decent price for awhile with no luck. One day though!
Methinks it is a feather... But, when you SAID that, I thought, "COOL, yeah, TELL everyone he is about to swallow a rabbit he just caught!" Great coin, and great start to collecting the Ptolemies! My first Ptolemy: PTOLEMY was the Greatest of the Diadochi! Ptolemy I signed by the Designer / Artist with a Delta behind his ear (curl of his hair). 305-285 BCE AR Tetradrachm OBV: Ptolemy I facing r, Delta behind ear, punch marks REV: Standing Eagle l, punch marks. 23.6mm x 4.5mm (thick) 13.8g (see @7Calbrey 's comment above)
Nice! I have 2 Ptolemy Tets, one from Ptolemy II and the other from Ptolemy X Ptolemy II Tetradrachm Tyre mint 277-264 BCE 13.8 grams And Ptolemy X - Paphos Mint Size: 26mm Weight: 13.19 grams Obverse: Diademed head right, wearing aegis Reverse: PTOLEMAIOU BASILEWS, Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; L K (date) before; PA behind. Laughs in War elephant
Just beautiful. Great work on the video as well! You can really see that excellent toning. My first ancient Egyptian coin or of the ptolemaic dynasty for that matter: ... though, I think @Alegandron misspelled, "PYRRHUS was the Greatest of the Diadochi!" We all have those moments, buddy
I didn't even notice the video until after I'd already pulled the trigger on the coin! (It was just text and a URL pasted into the bottom of the VCoins listing). But yes, good video, and Dorney has an intriguing tray of stuff in the background.
I will concede he was an excellent General and King... Never could completely defeat Republican Rome... But, did a good try! (kinda like Hannibal). But, a legacy of being King over 3 Kingdoms, purdy cool! Syracuse Sicily Pyrrhus 278-275 BCE AE 24mm 9.2g HeraklesHd - Athena Promachos SG1213 LE584 Left OH! But here is a Ptolemy to get us back on track... Egypt Ptolemy II 285-274 BC AE Obol 20mm 6.7g Alex III Eagle Tbolt Plain SV 601
LOL, yeah, he only thought he was great... Republican Rome took care of that a few years later. PTOLEMAIC COIN (With all the HUGE Ptolemaic coins, I got this one cuz it was little...) Egypt Ptolemy II 285-274 BC AE 17mm Eagle Cornuc SV 762
Great coin - you got the "good brother". If you haven't found it already, Ed Waddell's site has a copy of Svornos (1904) online: 1228 - with Plate XXXVIII.28 images are a bit small but still nice to have. You can also add to the provenance & references for your coin: ex-CNG eAuction 456 Lot 248 13-Nov-2019 ex-Pegasi BBS 143 lot 196 26-Aug-2014 (noted by CNG) Ref: Svoronos 1228; Olivier 3293–304 (obv. die D46); Mørkholm, Ptolemaic 357–63 (obv. die a38); SNG Copenhagen 562 var. (Z not retrograde; same obv. die); DCA 76 Here's my Ptolemy Tet of VIII - little brother to Ptolemy VI Philometer: a long story of sibling rivalry, as they started out joint rulers ~169-164 BC. My coin is from VIII (after VI died in 145) joint reign with Sister Cleopatra II with whom he had one child and niece Cleopatra III (daughter of VI) with whom he had 5 children (I find the family tree - family network - relatively unintelligible). Wikipedia reports that Greek sources much preferred VI over his brother describing Ptolemy VIII as a cruel, fat, degenerate, among other things. Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, nicknamed Physcon (Φύσκων "Fatty"), reign 145-116 BC, Alexandria Tetradrachm, circa 132-131 (year 39), AR Size: 28.3mm, 14.13g Obv: Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, wearing aegis Rev: ΠTOΛEMAIOY-BAΣIΛEΩΣ, Eagle with closed wings standing left on thunderbolt; L ΛΘ to left, ΠΑ to right Ref: Svoronos 1513 (Plate LII.14), SNG Copenhagen –; Noeske –; DCA 54 Svornos looks better at archive.org, but seems to be missing the plates
I notice that according to the page for Svoronos 1228 at https://www.coin.com/images/dr/svoronos/svc001p172t.html, it's a didrachm, not a tetradrachm. Which I guess would make sense given the diameter and the weight.
Wow, thanks for all the info. I must confess I still haven't gotten the hang of how to use ACSearch. All of it (attributions, reference citation, researching provenance, etc.) is pretty bewildering to me most of the time. I've plinked around a little on Wildwinds, is all, and skimmed some discussions here, and that's about it. Sometimes it's all just a bit too much for me, and I get a headache and retreat to more familiar US and World coin topics. But oh, I do love ancients, even when I'm feeling clueless. Maybe I just need it all "dumbed down" a bit. Yeah, I noticed that, too. Funny that the variety number is "1228", too (albeit only of interest to me). That also caught my eye, since that's my birthdate.
Of course, for all I know Svoronos was wrong and it is a tetradrachm. After all, the book was published circa 1904! Not that it matters what denomination it is as long as you like it. I happen to think it's great.
Also, the version at archive.org is the original, in Greek. I prefer the online translated version. What with my not knowing Greek and all!