[Home, My eBay, Site Map, Sign In/Out] [eBay logo] [Main Navigation] [Browse Sub-Navigation] ORC3038 Cleopatra & her son, AE28, VF Item # 1307745525 Coins:Coins: World:Ancient:Greek Bidding is closed for this item. Payment Details Payment Instructions Item price $4,500.00 PAYMENT INFORMATION FOR THIS ITEM: U.S. Shipping http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/oldromancoins.com and Handling $0.00 Shipping Insurance per - item Sales Tax (none) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Spacer] [Show description]Currently$4,500.00 First bid $4,500.00 Buy It Now [Leave feedback] for $4,750.00 (to seller) This option disappears once a bid is placed. Quantity 1 # of bids 0 bid history Time leftAuction has Location New England ended. Country USA [envelope] mail this auction Started Dec-08-01 10:37:38 PST to a friend Ends Dec-13-01 10:37:38 PST [Image] Seller (Rating) oldromancoins.com (1436) [star] [about me] view comments in seller's Feedback Profile | view seller's other auctions [Image] High bid -- [Image] Payment Money Order/Cashiers Checks. Personal Checks. Visa/MasterCard. Other. See item description for payment methods accepted [Image] Shipping Seller pays for shipping. Seller ships internationally (worldwide). See item description for shipping charges. [Image] Seller Services Relist this item Seller assumes all responsibility for listing this item. You should contact the seller to resolve any questions before bidding. Auction currency is U.S. dollars ( $ ) unless otherwise noted. Description Classical Cash and [Image] present -- our 130th weekly eBay Sale! [Image] [Image] ORC3038 Cleopatra & her son, AE28, VF Cleopatra VII & Alexander Helios, AE28, (13.28g) Paphos Mint, Cyprus, c. 38 BC, Diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra VII right, as Aphrodite, holding scepter and infant. / K[L]EORATPAS BASILISSHS Two cornucopiae, joined at bottom and bound with fillet, KYRP monogram to in lower right field. S7957; BMC 2-3; RPC 3901; Vagi 76. VF, rough, dusty dark tone, and among the finest known of this rare issue. The largest bronze denomination, struck during the time of Cleopatra in Cyprus, is a bronze unit. The exact relationship between the bronze unit and the silver tetradrachm is not known with certainty. However, calculating backward from the time of Egyptian bronze coinage of Augustus, this was a diobol. The obverse features a fairly crude diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra VII as Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans), facing right, scepter behind her shoulder, holding an infant, called Ptolemy XV (Caesarion) as Eros (Cupid to the Romans) in her arms. The reverse has two cornucopia, joined at the base, and bound with a fillet. The monogram KYRP that stands for Cyprus, appears to the right. The legend in Greek is ''Cleopatra, Queen.'' Collectors have long admired this rare coin. A small number are known. A modest production run or possible recall of the issue by the Romans, may account for the rarity of this type. The flan preparation for this c. 27-29 mm issue appears to have been the same as for the Alexandrian coinage of Cleopatra. Blanks were cast in molds, drilled in a stone or clay matrix. The weight standard calculated by RPC is 16.46 grams average. Specimens are noted with weights from 13.95 to 18.50 grams. This closely matches the weight of the bronze unit in Egypt. The bronze unit in Egypt had similar dimensions but were marked with the denominational sign R which stood for 80 drachms, a marking that must not be confused with its relationship with the silver. Key elements support the attribution of the portrait to Cleopatra VII. The facial features of Cleopatra are unusual and well known. Judging from her coins, she was not particularly attractive in the classical sense of beauty, though she was portrayed historically as one of the most beautiful woman of her era. In 66 AD, Plutarch noted she was less pretty than she was charming, ''Her own beauty, . . . was in itself not altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who saw here. But the charm of her presence was irresistible, and there was an attraction in her person and in her talk together with a peculiar force of character which pervaded her every work and action, and laid all who associated with her under its spell.'' Her sharp, hooked nose and prominent chin are almost masculine. Nose and chin are facial features inherited from her ancestor Ptolemy I Soter, whose rather grotesque portraits also show a very large chin, and a prominent nose. Almost 1600 years after Plutarch, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) would write, ''If the nose of Cleopatra had been a little shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed.'' The chin of Cleopatra is perhaps her strongest portrait feature. Considering the Queen's nose and chin, the assimilation to Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty, with Cleopatra's features is a rather difficult one. Aphrodite was an important Goddess on Cyprus, with a very important temple at Paphos. Tradition says that the Goddess came ashore for the first time near the city, born of the waves and the sea-foam. On the full-units, the Queen's chin is somewhat reduced, but not eliminated. Playfully, one can say that the rather crude Cypriot bronze portrait of Cleopatra VII is Ptolemy I Soter meets Venus! There was exceptionally heavy intermarriage among her Greek-Ptolemaic ancestors. These incestuous relationships produced heirs. The only ancestors of Cleopatra outside of the direct dynastic descendants of Ptolemy I Soter were Arsinoe I, Berenike II and Cleopatra I, each of whom was each descended from the royal houses of other generals of Alexander. All this meant that Ptolemy I Soter, while eight to ten generations back, was an ancestor of Cleopatra VII many times over. His genetic contribution to the last Greek Queen of Egypt must have been high, equal to that of a great-great-grandfather. (For an online listing of Ptolemaic ancestry, see: http://www.geocities.com/christopherjbennett/ptolemies/ptolemies.htm ) Cleopatra's lips were rather full, leading a small (probably incorrect) minority of recent revisionist scholars to suggest that she may have had some African ancestry as well as the well-known Greek and Egyptian background. Her well-documented ancestry is almost 100% Macedonian Greek. The queen's hair is portrayed as long and straight, gathered at a round bun behind the head, as was the hairstyle of the time. On Roman coins, contemporary Imperial women such as Fulvia, Octavia, Julia, and Livia are shown similarly coiffed. Livia was considered to be of similar (if longer-lasting) beauty. The baby held in the arms of Cleopatra is generally accepted as Caesarion (born 47 BC). However, if c. 38 BC, is the date of this issue, this suggests that either of her sons by Antony, Alexander Helios (born 40 BC) or Ptolemy Philadelphus (born 36 BC) may have been intended. After the death of Cleopatra, Caesarion was executed. Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphus were raised by their step-mother Octavia in Rome, but died or disappeared from histories. before you bid, if you have a question about this item. to see ALL the items in this sale and how to pay if you win ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On Dec-08-01 at 13:24:11 PST, seller added the following information: [Click on the link below to visit my web-page!] [Click and visit my ReliableMerchants web-page!] ReliableMerchants © "Reliable Merchants" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Image] Bidding Bidding is closed for this item. This page is available on eBay for a limited time only. Please print a copy for your own records. Top Questions From This Page * How do I place a proxy bid? 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