Greek Silver and Bronze Coins

Lot 3180    SESSION 11 (9.30am Thursday)    Greek Silver and Bronze Coins

Estimate $3,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $2,600

EGYPT, Kingdom of, Ptolemy I (323-283 B.C.), silver tetradrachm, (16.68 grams), issued 314-312 B.C., obv. head of Alexander wearing elephant headdress to right, rev. **ALEXANDROU* on left, Athena Alkidemos to right with spear and shield, monogram on right, below lower right an eagle to right, (S.7748, Sv.39 variety (Pl.II, 19 same obverse die), Zervos -, (The Alexander Mint of Egypt PhD Thesis 1974), SNG Cop.-, Bank Leu 22, May 8, 1979 [lot 172, same obverse die with similar reverse striking characteristics]). Old dark grey patination, nearly extremely fine and extremely rare, the variety unpublished.

The heavy issue of this type is many more times rarer than the lighter version of about 15 grams. This rarer intermediate issue follows the modified Alexander the Great tetradrachms that substituted the head of Herakles with the head of Alexander wearing the scalp of an Indian elephant. This short series was replaced by a new distinctive issue showing a fighting Athena in archaising style hurling a thunderbolt and holding a shield with a weight standard of 17.2 grams. The next issue was a dramatic change in weight to 15.6 grams. This was necessitated by Ptolemy I's financial difficulties and his loss of Syria and Phoenicia to Antigonus I in 312 B.C. It meant abandoning the Attic standard (tetradrachm of 17.2 grams), and replacing it with the Rhodian or Chian standard (tetradrachm of 15.6 grams). This change took place about 312 B.C., at about the time when Alexander IV was murdered by Cassander and it had become no longer necessary for Ptolemy I to retain the same weight system. Zervos in his doctoral thesis records only 63 examples of this variety struck on the heavy standard; a comprehensive record of all known coins from the various museums, sale catalogues and lists.