TheNewYorkSaleauctionXL

1144

Egypt, Pharonic. Nektanebo II. Gold Stater (8.16 g), ca. 361-342 BC. Horse prancing right. Rev. Heiroglyphic

representation of ‘good gold’: pectoral necklace (nebew = ‘gold’) crossing horizontally over a windpipe and

heart (nefer = ‘good’). (Faucher, Fischer-Bossert & Dhennin 1p (D1/R1; this coin); SNG Berry 1459 (same

dies); SNG Copenhagen 1 (same obv. die); ACGC 1064 (same obv. die); Hunt I 106 (same dies); Jameson

2618 (same rev. die)).

Very rare.

Toned. Choice very fine.

$ 140,000

Münzhandlung Basel 10 (16 March 1938), lot 402

ex Stack’s (10 June 1997), 38; Berk BBS 83 (26 October 1994), lot 7B

ex Lawrence A. Adams Collection (Triton XIX, 4 January 2016), lot 2075

This remarkable stater is the only “Greek” coin to feature a type intended to express an idea using the Egyptian hieroglyphic

script. It was struck by Nektanebo II (ca. 361-342 BC), a rebel Saite Pharaoh who opposed the re-incorporation of Egypt into

the Achaemenid Persian empire. In his bid to maintain Egyptian independence, he had the support of the powerful Egyptian

priesthood and maintained an army of Greek mercenaries. The coin is itself symbolic of Nektanebo’s unenviable predicament of

being a nationalist leader with a regime propped up by foreign military muscle. While it is generally believed that this gold stater

was part of an issue used to pay the Pharaoh’s mercenaries, the hieroglyphic reverse type identifying it as “good gold” is likely to have

been readable only by Egyptian priestly scribes. The hieroglyphic reverse reflects Nektanebo’s presentation of himself as a legitimate

native pharaoh defending Egypt against the Persians - only the latest manifestation of the “vile Asiatic” repeatedly mentioned in

hieroglyphic texts since the third millennium BC. Nektanebo II and his mercenary army successfully repelled a Persian invasion

in 351/0 BC, but he was driven from power when the mercenary leaders turned against him and joined the renewed offensive of

Artaxerxes II in 342 BC. Evidently more than good gold and the support of the religious establishment was needed to keep native

Pharaohs on the throne of the Two Lands, even in the twilight of the Persian empire.

Exciting Egyptian Achaemenid Period, Artaxerxes

III

Ochus.

Silver Tetradrachm

1145

Egypt, Achaemenid Period. Artaxerxes III Ochus. Silver Tetradrachm (16.49 g), 343/2–338/7 BC. Helmeted

head of Athena right, frontal eye. Rev. ‘Pharaoh Artaxerxes’ (Egyptian demotic), owl standing right, head

facing; above to left, olive-spray with berry and crescent; all within incuse square. (Van Alfen p. 25, 3, pl. 6,

115).

Very rare.

Huge flan. Some scattered insignificant scratches on both sides. Choice very fine. $ 4,000

While imitative Athenian tetradrachms commonly circulated in Egypt and the Southern Levant, this piece is remarkable for its

legend, written in Egyptian demotic (“popular”) script that names the Persian Great King, Artaxerxes III, as Pharaoh. The sudden

and completely unexpected use of demotic here is explained by the historical context of the coinage, which was struck following

the defeat of the anti-Persian rebel pharaoh, Nektanebo II in 342 BC. Nektanebo’s rare gold coinage had spoken to Egyptians in

hieroglyphic pictog to underline the national flavor of his revolt despite the fact that they were being spent on Greek mercenaries.

The demotic tetradrachms of the victorious Artaxerxes III, also used on mercenaries, seem to be a direct response to the coins of

Nektanebo, but identify the Great King as the legitimate pharaoh.