Featured Ptolemy II AV Octodrachm - Four Royal Portraits

Ptolemy II was the son of Ptolemy I Soter, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the Great who founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom after the death of Alexander, and queen Berenice I, originally from Macedon in northern Greece.


He had two full sisters, Arsinoe II and Philotera and numerous half-siblings. Ptolemy's first wife, Arsinoe I, daughter of Lysimachus, was the mother of his legitimate children. His beautiful and ambitious sister Arsinoe II was married to Lysimachus. In 279 BC he married his sister, after the death of Lysimachus, in the manner of the old Egyptian pharaohs. The sibling marriage scandalized Greek society, which gave Arsinoe the nickname Philadelphus, or "brother-lover."


Educated by Philitas of Cos, the material and literary splendour of the Alexandrian court during his reign, was at its zenith. He promoted the Museum, expanded the Library of Alexandria, built the towering Pharos lighthouse and established a research centre for medicine and science. He was a generous patron of scholars and poets, developed art and agriculture and when he suffered military setbacks, he overcame these and expanded his sphere of influence through diplomacy. His court was both, magnificent and dissolute, intellectual and artificial.


Ptolemaic Egypt was the only Greek-ruled kingdom to strike large quantities of enormous gold coins weighing nearly an ounce. This impressive denomination, today usually called an octodrachm, was worth 100 silver drachms, or one mina, a small fortune in ancient times. The Greco-Egyptians called the 100-mina piece a mnaieion (min-EYE-on). The first mnaieions carried four royal portraits -- Ptolemy II and his sister-wife on the obverse with the epithet adelphon ("sibling lovers"), backed with the portraits of his parents, Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice I, now identified as theon ("gods").
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I like the coin because it has 4 royal portraits

This particular one is an AU* 5/5 AND 5/5 and possibly my last big ticket (at least for my budget) ancient for the year.



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Nice!! Looks like CT members picked up several of those Spencer Paterson coins last month . Are you going to crack it out?

 

I don't think I will crack it out TIF. Its a soft metal and I'm scared of damaging it. Maybe some day when I have a proper display for my coins....perhaps.

 

Question: Why is their so mention mention of “cracking out” here regarding ancient coins and nothing regarding US Coins “cracking out”?

 

I guess it’s an ancients thing. I don’t mind ‘cracking out’ a mediocre or low value coin to perhaps touch a coin an ancient historical figure/hero might have touched but I’m not going to do it if might cost me $$$$ in loss of value

 

Exactly.... couldn’t agree more.

 

Stunning coin, @1934 Wreath Crown !

 

I think I hear the coin singing a Beatles song. Something like "I want you to hold me in your haaaaaand... I must be held in your hand."

 

Quite simply because ancient coins aren't modern coins and while slabbing is seen as a necessity in modern coin circles most ancient collectors don't collect slabbed coins. It's the same reason that even most high end ancient-focused auction houses (CNG, NAC, Roma, etc) largely don't sell slabbed coins even for their highest caliber coins. Heritage is the exception, not surprising since their clientele is largely modern coin collectors(and they own a chunk of NGC).

 

Very nice pick up! I like the four portraits also @1934 Wreath Crown , well done!

About slabs:
Has anyone seen value plummet when an ancient gets freed? There are instances where modern US coins will lose perceived value after being cracked. Just curious?

 

Not if they are being sold through the reputable and well established action houses. Having said that, I bought 2 coins from Roma which turned out to be either reproductions or severely compromised (metal just crumpled) and they took them back thanks to NGC.

Also can you imagine a sensible novice collector paying $$$$ for an uncertified ancient coin on ebay?!! I definitely can't and won't.

Yes I know I can return the coin if it is found to be a fake under the return policy of eBay or PayPal but then again someone has to confirm it is a fake. Even in the case of moderns, I have seen many rare coins sitting for ages on the shelf whereas similar graded coins are selling for much more through auctions and even eBay. So I'm afraid there is a strong argument for grading rare high quality coins and notes etc.

 

You shouldn't have to worry if you (carefully) cracked it out. The reason why US coins have so much of their value tied to their holder is because one microscopic mark can be the difference between MS67 and 68 which could be a 10x change in price.

Even graded, ancients are more coarsely categorized. Unless you cracked it out and put it in your pocket for a week, you wouldn't change its grade.

If you haven't held a gold octodrachm raw, you're missing out on an important part of the experience. I'm not one to need to fondle my coins on a daily basis but the novelty of holding octodrachms has not worn off for me.

The only danger is that it'll make you want to buy several more so that you can put them all in your hand at once and play Scrooge McDuck with them. No, I most certainly haven't done this...

 

Hahahaha I certainly WON'T be doing that either (Scrooge McDuck) Joe

 

Excellent coin. Theocritus the poet was one of those sponsored by Ptolemy II and residing in Alexandria. Here's passage II of the Idylls of Theocritus...

I was introduced to his works in a course I took called the Hellenistic World and taught by Dr. Erich Gruen at Berkeley.

Where are my bay-leaves? Come, Thestylis; where are my love-charms? Come crown me the bowl with the crimson flower o’ wool; I would fain have the fire-spell to my cruel dear that for twelve days hath not so much as come anigh me, the wretch, nor knows not whether I be alive or dead, nay nor even hath knocked upon my door, implacable man. I warrant ye Love and the Lady be gone away with his feat fancy. In the morning I’ll to Timagetus’ school and see him, and ask what he means to use me so; but, for to-night, I’ll put the spell o’ fire upon him.

So shine me fair, sweet Moon; for to thee, still Goddess, is my song, to thee and that Hecat infernal who makes e’en the whelps to shiver on her goings to and fro where these tombs be and the red blood lies. All hail to thee, dread and awful Hecat! I prithee so bear me company that this medicine of my making prove potent as any of Circe’s or Medea’s or Perimed’s of the golden hair.