eBay item 3939051778 (Ends Nov-09-04 13:50:36 PST) - ORC3514 Cleopatra VII 36/35 BC portrait tet. VF, NO REShome | pay | register | sign in | services | site map Advanced Search Back to home pageListed in category: Coins > Coins: Ancient > Greek ORC3514 Cleopatra VII 36/35 BC portrait tet. VF, NO RESItem number: 3939051778 You are signed inEmail to a friend Bidding has ended for this item. (collmd is the winner) If you are collmd, Sign in for your status. Winning bid: US $280.88 Ended: Nov-09-04 13:50:36 PST Start time:Nov-02-04 13:50:36 PST History:17 bids (US $0.99 starting bid) Winning bidder: collmd ( 113) Item location: Springfield, Massachusetts United States Ships to:Worldwide Shipping costs:Check item description and payment instructions or contact seller for details Shipping, payment details and return policy Seller information oldromancoins.com ( 2030) Feedback Score: 2030 Positive Feedback: 99.7% Member since Aug-29-98 in United States Read feedback comments Add to Favorite Sellers Ask seller a question View seller's other items PayPal Buyer Protection Free coverage up to $500. See eligibility Financing available Only $12 per month if you use PayPal Buyer Credit. Subject to credit approval. US residents only. See repayment details. See details | Apply now Description Classical Cash's 235th eBay Sale! If the photos above do not load, click here for Obverse and click here for Reverse ORC3514 Cleopatra VII 36/35 BC portrait tet. VF Cleopatra VII, billon tetradrachm, (13.70g) Paphos Mint, Cyprus, Year 16 = 36/35 BC, Diademed head of Ptolemy XV/Cleopatra wearing aegis right. / PTO/\ to LEMAIOY BASI/\ to LEWS Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, LIH before, PA and grain ear behind. S7952var. VF, small mark on cheek, unstruck area on both sides, nice metal. Tetradrachms of the later Ptolemies all have similar types. The obverse features a diademed head facing right, with a strong chin, usually wearing an aegis at the neck. The aegis was a symbol of Zeus that protected the wearer. Die axis is generally 12:00. The reverse says ''Ptolemy, King'' in Greek. To the left of the eagle are L for Year, and one or two letters that spell out the date in Greek. For example, L IB is Year 10 + 2 = 12 of the reign of the ruler, dated from the ruler's ascension to power. To the right of the eagle is the mintmark PA, for Paphos, today sometimes called Neo- or Nea- Paphos because the Ptolemaic city of Paphos was 10 miles west of the archaic city. Svoronos considers the obverse of the coinage of the later Ptolemies to show a portrait of Ptolemy I Soter, with a dummy PA mintmark was copied in Alexandria from coins struck at Paphos in prior decades. The argument can be made that the portraits on these later coins are not of Ptolemy I Soter, but are contemporary portraits, and that the mintmark actually reflects where the coin was minted. The strength of the chin on the tetradrachm portrait declines markedly. In ''Standard Ptolemaic Silver,'' Newell notes: With the renewed issues of [Ptolemy VI] Philometor in Cyprus, a new type of head makes its appearance. The hair has become inordinately curly, the nose longer, thinner, sharper, the eye a mere dot and not so deeply sunk as before. Only the projecting chin is still that of [Ptolemy I] Soter and enables us to see, although perhaps with difficulty, that the less able die-cutters of the second century B.C. were still attempting to reproduce the features of the first Ptolemy. Of second century tetradrachms, Morkholm writes in Paphos I: Although it must be borne in mind that the head does not represent the reigning king, but is a free variation over the portrait of Ptolemy I, founder of the dynasty, the change may reflect the change of ruler. Or were they? Perhaps the Cypriot tetradrachm portrait, which Newell tries so hard to tie to Ptolemy I Soter, is simply that of the Ptolemy VI. The portrait changes noted by Morkholm may actually reflect changes in portraits of the new ruler. Similar portraits attributed to Ptolemy VI appear on hemidrachms attributed to Alexandria (more likely Cypriot) and tetradrachms of Akko (Svor. 1486). Of these, R. R. R. Smith notes, ''Most distinctive are the thrusting forward of the lower part of the long face, and the prominent chin, unmistakable on small coins and sculpture.'' It seems logical that the descendants of Ptolemy I Soter would have inherited a portion of his outstanding chin. The portraits on tetradrachms of Ptolemy VI's brother, Ptolemy VIII (sic) are similar to those of Ptolemy VI. The tetradrachms of Ptolemy VIII's son/nephew, Ptolemy IX, and those of Ptolemy VIII's other son/nephew, Ptolemy X are similar to those on coins of Ptolemy VI. With no new genetic material entering the royal bloodline, all of their portraits would be similar. However, Ptolemy VIII was quite heavy, indeed he was known as Potbelly. The tetradrachms of Ptolemy VIII do resemble those of Ptolemy VI more than the few certain portrait coins of this ruler. Ancient sculpture and gem cameos are of little aid to attribution of coins, for in general they have been attributed from coin portraits. Without certain portraits of the kings, this argument has real limits. It seems plausible that the portraits following the restoration of Ptolemy XII represent that of the Ptolemy XII himself, the father of Cleopatra. A contemporary crude tetradrachm from Askalon has long been considered to be his portrait. A small issue of drachms of style identical to the ''restored Ptolemy XII'' tetradrachms (Svoronos 1838) is also sometimes (Newell, R. G. P. C., p.91; Hazzard, p. 12) considered a portrait of the King. A statue with the head of Ptolemy XII on the body of a sphinx was recently discovered. Ptolemy XII was a middle-aged man, with less of the strong chin that characterized Ptolemy Soter portraits. Since Ptolemy IV portraits on silver tetradrachms show a ruler whose genetic contribution from big-chinned Ptolemy I Soter was twice that of Ptolemy XII, the comparison of chin strength between Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy XII is similar, while at some distance from the really big chin of Ptolemy I Soter. Indeed the tetradrachms of Ptolemy XII bare a strong resemblance to the known coin portraits of his daughter Cleopatra, who had nearly the same genetic make-up over generations as her father-uncle. After the restoration of Ptolemy XII by the Romans, an unusual revision of the portrait took place. His chief minister was, rather briefly, a Roman creditor named Rabirius Postumus. Hazzard writes, quoting Morkholm, ''An elaborate hairstyle now gave a certain charm to the head of Ptolemy Soter. The hairstyling, remarked Morkholm, 'consisted of several sharply separated rows of locks arranged alternately, and placed in tiers, one above the other.''' The portrait on tetradrachms of Ptolemy XII, which has been called Ptolemy I Soter, is a bit feminized. It bears a much stronger resemblance to that on bronze coins bearing the name of Cleopatra. This style portrait was continued during the reign of Cleopatra, with the date revised for the year of her reign. If the portrait on the tetradrachms is not Ptolemy XII, XIII, XIV and Cleopatra VII, then the coins are the only silver coinage of a significant monarch of their era, without the portrait of the current ruler. The rulers of Bithynia, Pontus, Pergamum, Syria, and Macedonia struck portrait silver prior to their conquest by Rome. The contemporary rulers of Mauritania, Cappadocia, Parthia, and Armenia struck portrait silver while generally maintaining varying levels of independence from Rome. By the time of Cleopatra, even Rome had begun to strike portrait silver coins. The largest silver coinage of this time without a portrait would be traditional type tetradrachms from the city-state of Tyre. BMC (in 1882) and Svoronos (published in 1904-1908) called these tetradrachms Alexandria Mint, with ''the immobilized mintmark of Paphos.'' There are indeed stylistic and flan variations indicating that two mints may have struck tetradrachms using the Paphos mintmark 100 years earlier. The obverse dies are not shared with those of a second PA mint. The c. 97 BC Paphos I hoard contains 2484 tetradrachms from both PA mints. Half the coins found were from the second Paphos Mint, called ''Alexandria,'' by Nicolaou and Morkholm. The obverse die study in Paphos I shows that the two PA mintmark-using mints did not share dies, or die-cutters. Each mint had its own style. The complex late Ptolemaic economy of monopolies may have allowed coining in a large Royal mint at Paphos and a smaller ''local'' mint in the same city, using the same mintmark. Moulds for casting bronze denominations have been found at various locations in Paphos. The wide stylistic variation in small bronze produced during short periods also supports the existence of more than one Paphos Mint for the silver. The only evidence suggesting that Paphos was not the primary, if not only, mint for the period is the apparent lack of tetradrachms with a clear Cypriot provenance. The Paphos I hoard of tetradrachms breaks this rule, as do two smaller hoards of tetradrachms found on Cyprus. Newell (in 1941) also accepted that the second mint was Alexandria noting, ''Just what the reason for this may have been we cannot be certain.'' Morkholm in Paphos I accepts this, noting, ''No satisfactory explanation has ever been given of this Alexandrian practice . . .'' Hazzard suggests, '' . . . an engraver at the Alexandrine mint possibly got orders to copy a tetradrachm from Paphos and included its mintmark in his production.'' Other recent sources such as Sear have accepted this strained mint attribution; of an apparently purposeless ancient lie told on millions of coins struck over a period of several decades. Why? While most of these tetradrachms are indeed found in Egypt and Phoenicia, for decades Paphos had produced tetradrachms with the mintmark PA, part of a larger Cypriot coinage alongside Kition (mintmark KI, or K) and Salamis (mintmark SA). Kition acted as a branch or overflow mint for Salamis, with similar style, but less frequent issues. Smaller Cypriot mints at Amathos (AMAŘ monogram) and Soli (SW) also briefly struck some tetradrachms. Perhaps the Cypriot silver tetradrachms were used for payments in Egypt and Ptolemaic holdings in Phoenicia. During the time of Ptolemy VIII to XII, the mint at Paphos produced many bronze coins, with symbols including lotus flower and cornucopia, of all denominations. The variety and number of bronze types at Paphos vastly exceeds production at the smaller Alexandria Mint, as it had for decades before. Some of the bronze types attributed by Svoronos to Egypt are now considered to be from Cyprus. The Egypt-centered attributions of Svoronos in gold, silver and bronze, away from Cypriot mints are not surprising considering that he was working almost 100 years ago, with far less information, and that the precious metal find-sites were rarely located in Cyprus. No sound reason to date has been proposed to suggest that the Paphos mintmarks mean anything other than ''struck at Paphos.'' Neither Cyprus nor Egypt had many silver mines. At Paphos, silver was accepted in trade, alloyed with the correct amount of local copper, and struck into tetradrachms. ''Cyprus, Copper and the Sea'' notes, ''Good fluxing materials close to the mines and an ample source of energy from the surrounding forest helped the Cypriot metallurgist to refine the pyrometallurgical treatment and to maximize metal extraction from the ore.'' Alexandria, by comparison, had little fuel and almost no smelting and metalworking. There is textual evidence that wood and ships were imported into Egypt from Cyprus. However, in order to extract an ounce of copper from sulfide ores, 300 ounces of charcoal would have been needed. Copper smelting requires burning charcoal at 1150 degrees Celsius. But Egyptian copper ore contains arsenic anyway. Use of this ore was ended by 2000 BC. Instead, copper was imported to Egypt from Cyprus, and the Sinai Desert near Gaza. While Paphos was not the capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, its proximity to copper, fuel, trade (and the silver that trade brought in) and its previous minting talent pool may well have meant that almost all Ptolemaic silver tetradrachms were coined there. Striking of precious metal coinage was not always done at an ancient capital city. Centuries earlier, Carthage had struck most of its silver in Sicily, far from the capital, for similar practical reasons. In the time of Tiberius, the Roman gold and silver mint was at Lugdunum (Lyons), although the coins circulated, fairly evenly, throughout the Empire. A Ptolemaic mint in Alexandria is akin to a modern American mint in Washington DC: the wrong location for the factory. Ancient precious metal coins sometimes traveled far from their origin. Silver coined at Athens from 460 to 300 BC is found today in Syria and Egypt, almost never near Athens. Silver Pegasi staters coined at Corinth are found primarily in Sicily, rarely near Corinth. The precious metal coinage with mintmark PA was produced at Paphos for immediate or ultimate export to other places in the Ptolemaic holdings. Paphos mintmark meant struck at Paphos. At the end of his first reign in 58 BC, weak-minded and much indebted Ptolemy XII was squarely under the control of the Romans. Like some modern debtor nations, much of the considerable production of Egypt was taxed for repayment of debt to the Romans, including a large bribe to Julius Caesar, who was then consul. The debt to Julius Caesar was 6000 talents, and Ptolemy owed money to many others Romans and to the Roman treasury. Like a modern debtor nation, the conspicuous consumption of the ruling family, heavy taxes and other austerity measures supported by the government drove up interest rates and created enormous economic hardship. The Romans boldly seized Cyprus and its treasury. A mob drove Ptolemy XII from Alexandria in 58 BC. He fled to Cyprus, and his allies, the Romans. In his absence, Ptolemy XII left as co-regents his wife/sister Cleopatra V Tryphaena and their eldest daughter, Berenike IV. Cleopatra Tryphaena died about a year later and Berenike IV ruled as sole regent. She was made to marry Seleucus Kybiosaktes, but after a few days she had him strangled. Berenike ruled again as sole regent and was expected to marry again. The second man she chose was Archelaus, high priest of Ma. While Ptolemy XII did not control Egypt, the tetradrachm coinage in his name was continued from Paphos, while the island was under the ''control'' of the Romans. Roman rule in Syria during the same period used the name and types of the late Seleukid king, Philip II. The ''free city'' of Tyre struck the traditional dated silver with the head of Melqart and the eagle on the reverse, even after the ''freedom'' was removed in 20 BC. Like its sister city Tyre, Sidon issued silver coins as a ''free city'' for decades after it was no longer free. Aradus, Laodicea, and Seleucia also struck silver coins during this time. In Asia Minor, the city of Pergamum continued issue of cistophoric tetradrachm for eight decades after the city was willed to Rome in 133 BC. While under Roman ''control'' similar cistophoric tetradrachms were issued by Ephesus and several smaller cities in Asia Minor. Why would the Romans allow the striking of ''foreign'' silver coins? Roman rule did not mean absolute control over the people she conquered. Part of the military success that the Romans enjoyed, was that their ''rule'' allowed for the ''conquered'' people to maintain much of their own culture, religion, and local rule. Indeed the Roman Republic and the Empire prospered with a mix of cultures enabled to trade under local and Roman law. At the same time, the Romans regularly collected taxes, and controlled the military. Striking of coinage familiar to Egypt, Cyprus, and Phoenicia was acceptable to the Roman occupiers of Cyprus. The eldest daughter of Ptolemy XII, Berenike IV, ruled Egypt from 58-55, striking no known coinage. Her regnal years 1, 2 and 3 appear on papyrii, but not coins. Why? She did not control the main mint at Paphos, which was under control of the Roman allies of her father. If the mint were at Alexandria, a tetradrachm coinage for Berenike IV might be expected. Instead, the mint at Paphos apparently continued issues of tetradrachms for her exiled father. Tetradrachms which were dated Years 24 and 25 of his rule had been attributed to Ptolemy X by Svoronos, (as Svoronos 1685, 1686, 90-88 BC) based on there being a date for dies marked Paphos at a mint in Alexandria, from which Ptolemy XII had just been expelled. Newell notes of first reign Ptolemy XII tetradrachms, ''His issues, while still of fairly good quality of silver, are distinguishable from those of his predecessors by their somewhat smaller diameter and the roughness and poorness of their style.'' Specific gravity analysis of a specimen shows 34.0% silver, a value in line with the debased silver of the second reign of Ptolemy XII. An examination of obverse dies or specific gravity could help to differentiate the similar issues of Ptolemy X and XII. For the promise of 10,000 talents of additional money, the Roman military under Aulus Gabinus returned Ptolemy XII to the throne of Egypt in 55 BC. The army of Archelaus lost to the Romans. Ptolemy XII continued to pay old and new debts to the Romans. The Roman creditor Rabirius Postumus served as his chief minister briefly. Rabirius Postumus served the interests of Roman creditors over those of Egypt, by collecting taxes with zeal. The Roman financier was driven out of Egypt in 54 BC. However, Ptolemy XII, aided by Roman military influence, clung to power. He ruled until his death in 51 BC. The tetradrachms after 55 BC have a transverse palm branch of Victory on the reverse, behind the eagle, and the headdress of Isis before. Flans are broader than the squat, earlier issues of Ptolemy XII. An important minting change occurs as well. The post-Restoration tetradrachms are struck on flans that were cast en chapelete, with the larger weight variation that this implies. BMC Ptolemies, written in 1883, first noted the variation in the weight of the tetradrachms. The coins show few flan cracks, and the rims usually show casting sprues. In about 58 BC, the tetradrachms of Ptolemy XII underwent a substantial debasement. From a standard of c. 90% silver, coins were struck with debased silver, of about 33% silver. Hazzard firmly notes 33%, although RPC suggests 40-45% is the correct value. The RPC value is taken from the X-ray fluoresce analysis of D. R. Walker, The Metrology of Roman Silver Coinage I (Oxford 1976) p. 142. Specific gravity analysis confirms that Hazzard's figure is correct. The King of Egypt kept his main financial accounts in silver, not gold or bronze. In JSSEA XX Hazzard notes, ''this was true even when the chora depended almost solely on copper for day to day business. Penalty clauses [on legal documents] in the second and first centuries required payment . . . in silver for the Crown.'' Cicero calculated the wealth of Ptolemy XII in silver talents (Strabo XVII.i.13). Royal debts and ongoing obligations such as salaries inside the kingdom were due in tetradrachms. The reduced silver tetradrachms, valued as the earlier ones, were used to pay the ongoing internal expenses of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, yet another austerity-measure. Pickling the blanks in warm vinegar would have dissolved some surface copper and left the surfaces enriched with silver. Striking the cast planchets while hot brought more silver, the lower melting point metal, to the surface, making the visible surface appear to be of silver. (Almost three hundred years later, denarii of the Severans appear silver, although struck of a similar, if more silvery, metal mix). Coins of Ptolemy XII's children Ptolemy XIII, Ptolemy XIV and Cleopatra were also struck at this reduced silver standard. A graph of actual silver content of 141 dated tetradrachms, noting the abrupt debasement, but listing coins of Ptolemy XIII and XIV together, taken from Hazzard, includes data collected in two different ways. Only the final four points, at 33%, were collected by Wet (destructive) Analysis by Hazzard. These points should be considered the most reliable. Dr. Frank Cochran performed specific gravity analysis of several late Ptolemaic tetradrachms. The mix of metals was assumed to be simply copper and silver. The silver content of late Ptolemaic tetradrachms was found to approximate that of contemporary Roman silver denarii, though the range of net silver content was considerable, from 15% to 37%, and 2.0 to 5.0 grams. Ptolemy XII died in 51 BC, and in Egypt was succeeded by his daughter Cleopatra, in joint reign with her brother Ptolemy XIII. The famous orator Cicero was appointed governor of Cyprus in 51/50 BC. The financial crisis continued. During his administration, two Romans, at the instigation of Brutus, loaned money to the Salaminians at an exorbitant interest rate of 48% resulting in Cicero's prosecution of Brutus' allies. The Paphos tetradrachms of this period are dated Year One through Year Four, and Year Seven through Year Twenty-two (Svoronos 1815-35). Hazzard notes that there is no known tetradrachms dated Year Five or Year Six. In the past, this has been accepted to mean that the coins were issued from 51 to 47 BC, and again from 44 to 30 BC. However, if the tetradrachms were issued continuously, a logical re-dating is in order. ''It might well be considered,'' wrote E. T. Newell, ''that the coins were struck in his name (the co-ruler's) as they bear the usual inscription . . .'' i.e., ''Ptolemy, King.'' Since Ptolemy XIII, brother of Cleopatra, was co-ruler and his name appeared on the reverse legend, the regnal year, from Spring 51 to January 47, and the portrait may be taken to be his. Important history was written during this period. While engaged in a civil war against Caesar, Pompey the Great fell into the hands of young Ptolemy XIII who had him executed. Cleopatra had herself smuggled to Caesar's presence in a rug, and the great general found her irresistible. He intervened in the Egyptian Civil War in favor of Cleopatra. In 47 BC, Caesar returned Cyprus to Egypt, and Ptolemy XIII drowned (or, if one believes Strabo, was executed by Caesar). The production of tetradrachms in his name was stopped at Year Four. To secure her rule with an accepted male ruler, Cleopatra married another brother, Ptolemy XIV. While Cleopatra was virtual sole ruler, her male consort's name was invoked when a king's name was legally needed. Tetradrachms were struck in this name, beginning again with Year One, in January of 47. Ptolemy XIV was killed in September 44 BC, during his Year Four. The tetradrachms struck for Ptolemy XIII and XIV are so nearly the same that they are catalogued as the same in reference books. Both have the same design, and the same run of dates, Year One through Year Four. For the same reasons, dated tetradrachms of earlier Ptolemaic kings are not easily distinguished. A die study of these coins, which should fall into two distinct groups of punches and anvils, is needed. Linkages between dies used for different dates could be paired with information about silver content to understand if individual punch and anvil die combinations were from the Year One to Year Four of Ptolemy XIII's reign or the same years of Ptolemy XIV's reign, three years later. After this, Cleopatra ruled as co-ruler with her son Ptolemy XV, issuing tetradrachms dated to her own Years Seven through twenty-two, with the usual Greek ''Ptolemy, King'' legend for the male ruler, her son. The dates of her coins are calculated from her ascent as queen in 51 BC. The later dates (Years 18 to 22) eliminate the dates as possible for the reign of Ptolemy XV, because he was born in 47 BC, and killed in 30 BC. Similarly, the tetradrachms of Years 26 to 30 are from the later years of her father, Ptolemy XII. All of these tetradrachms seem to show the facial features of Ptolemy XII / Ptolemy XIII / Ptolemy XIV / Cleopatra VII. Their faces were probably as similar as their genetics. 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