Greek Silver & Bronze Coins

Lot 3540    Session 11 (9:30am Thursday)    Greek Silver & Bronze Coins

Estimate $1,200
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $1,400

EGYPT, Kingdom of, Ptolemy I (323-283 B.C.), silver tetradrachm, (16.51 g), issued c.313 B.C., obv. head of Alexander wearing elephant headdress to right, rev. **ALEXANDROU* on left, Athena Alkidemos to right with spear and shield, EY on right, below lower right eagle to right [off flan], (S.7748, Sv.42, Zervos, The Alexander Mint of Egypt, Group 18 [p.91-3], SNG Cop.15). Old attractive grey tone, nearly extremely fine and rare.

Ex Alan Jordan Collection and purchased from Noble Numismatics Sale 75 (lot 1869).

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 with 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.