ORC3615 Cleopatra VII, Cyprus, AE18, VF
$76.09
Jan-29-02
oldromancoins.com

Cyprus, Cleopatra VII, 51-30 BC, Æ18 (3.27g) Neopaphos Mint, Laureate head
of Zeus to right. / No legend. Zeus standing head to right, holding ears of
corn on single stalk(?) in right hand and a scepter in the left hand; star
above head. 
BMC-; Svor.-; SNG Cop.-; RPC-; RPC Supplement mentions 
Paphos II; Cox, Excavations at Curium, 128; Lichochka, Un 
type de Zeus sur les monnaies hellenistiques de Nea paphos, 
5-6 (dated to mid-1st century BC);
Museum of the History of Cypriot Coinage, Coin catalogue, 
Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, Nicosia 1996 Ch11, coin 
#35 (as Cleopatra VII); Paphos II (as Cleopatra VII). 

The reverse of the coin is less likely the Zeus Plienus of Paphos (Zeus the
Protector, of Paphos). Oddly, there is no reverse legend, unique among
Ptolemaic coins which otherwise all name a ruler. (BMC -; Svor. -; SNG Cop.
-; RPC -; RPC Supplement mentions Paphos II; Cox, Excavations at Curium,
128; Lichochka, Un type de Zeus sur les monnaies hellenistiques de Nea
paphos, 5-6 (dated to mid-1st century BC); Museum of the History of Cypriot
Coinage, Coin catalogue, Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, Nicosia 1996
Ch11, coin #35 (as Cleopatra VII); Nicolaou, Paphos II, #469-509, pp.
114-116 (late reign of Cleopatra VII). While not noted in the standard
references for Ptolemaic coinage, the coin is fairly common on Cyprus and
is noted in Cypriot numismatic publications, and dated there to the time of
Cleopatra VII. This denomination was commonly found in the excavations at
Nea- Paphos.

The diameter is about 17mm. The average weight of less worn examples is
about 3.7 grams, with weights varying from 4.3 grams to 1.5 grams. The
examples weighing 1.5 grams were perhaps struck on flans prepared for the
eighth-unit, though the dies are smaller. Like the obol, the issue is
struck on flans without a centering mark. The edges are sometimes
untrimmed, leaving casting sprues and mold overflow at the edges. There are
a variety of styles for this issue.