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Ancient Coins
1911
Ptolemaic Kingdom. Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos
(Auletes). Silver Tetradrachm (13.80 g), 80-58 BC
. Alex-
andria, RY 1 (80 BC). Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, aegis
tied at neck.
Reverse:
, eagle stand-
ing left on thunderbolt; in left field, date (L A); in right field,
. Svoronos 1734; SNG Copenhagen 376. Boldly struck with
attractive light iridescent toning.
Superb Extremely Fine
.
Estimate Value ..................................................... $500 - 600
The Hanbery Collection; Purchased privately from S. M. Huston
in 1981.
I
MPORTANT
O
PHELLAS
, P
TOLEMAIC
G
OVERNOR
, G
OLD
S
TATER
,
CA
. 322-313 BC
Enlargement
1912 Cyrenaica, Cyrene. Ophellas, Ptolemaic Governor. Gold Stater (8.56 g), first reign, ca. 322-313 BC
. Polianthes, magistrate. KYPA-
NAION, Nike, holding kentron and reins, driving slow quadriga right.
Reverse:
, Zeus-Ammon standing facing, head left, holding
patera and lotus-tipped scepter; in left field, thymiaterion. Naville 104; SNG Copenhagen 1210 Pozzi 3271.
Very Rare.
Well struck and delicately
toned. A marvelous specimen.
Extremely Fine
.
Estimate Value ......................................................................................................................................................................... $10,000 - UP
The Hanbery Collection; Purchased privately from F. Kovacs in 1991. Ex Samuel-Jean de Pozzi Collection (Naville I, 14 March 1921), 3271.
This stater was struck at Cyrene under the Ptolemaic administration headed by Ophellas. He had served in the army of Alexander the Great and
took part in that king' s celebrated Indian campaign, but after Alexander' s death in 323 BC he followed Ptolemy I Soter, who took control of
Egypt. When a civil war broke out in the Cyrenaica in 322 BC, Ptolemy sent Ophellas with an army to claim the region for the Ptolemaic kingdom.
This he did and assumed the position of Ptolemaic governor, which he held until 309/8 BC except for a brief Cyrenean revolt in 313 BC. The Nike
in quadriga obverse type may perhaps refer to Ophellas' victory in the civil war and serve as a slight nod to the popular and widely circulating
charioteer staters of Philip II. The reverse depicts Zeus Ammon, the oracular deity for which Cyrene was most famous. So high was the renown of
the god and his prophecies that Alexander the Great himself had made a special journey to visit the oracle at Siwah.
Enlargement
1913 Cyrenaica, Cyrene. Silver Didrachm (7.73 g), ca. 308-277 BC
. Head of Karneios left.
Reverse:
KY-PA, silphion plant; in right field, I and
O
monogram. Müller 174; cf. SNG Copenhagen 1239 (coiled serpent in left field of rev.); BMC 246-8. A beautiful fine style example. Boldly struck and
well centered, all delicately toned.
Choice Very Fine
.
Estimate Value ...........................................................................................................................................................................$2,000 - UP
The Hanbery Collection; Purchased privately from Dr. Arnold Saslow Rare Coins & Classical Arts in 1991. Ex John Ward Collection, Metropolitan
Museum of Art (Sotheby' s, Zurich, 4-5 April 1973), 757; Ex R. Carfrae Collection (Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 23 May 1894), 23.