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                 Web Product ID: 426

                 Price: $245.00
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                 Denomination: 24mm
                 Grade: Good VF dark brown patina with earthen highlights
                 Reference: Svoronos 708; SNG Copenhagen 495




  Egypt, Ptolemaic Kings. Ptolemy II Philadelphos. 285-246 BC. Æ 24mm (11.33 gm). Head
  of Zeus Ammon right / PTOLEMAIOU BASILEWS, eagle standing left on thunderbolt; club
  in left field. Svoronos 708; SNG Copenhagen 495. Good VF. $245



  Ptolemy II, son of Berenike and Ptolemy I, succeeded his father in 282 BC. The new
  king had two sides to his personality. The court poet, Theoctitus (14.60-64),
  described him in laudatory terms: "He is the very best sort: a kind fellow, a lover
  of the arts, a true gallant, a pleasant companion.....gives freely to many and denies
  no suppliant." Hazard, in his recent work on Ptolemaic coinage, adds that "the poet's
  statement was only at best a half-truth. Remote, cruel, cynical, suspicious and
  murderous, Ptolemy II had another side so dark that he faced several revolts and
  defections throughout his reign of thirty-six years."