Obolos 19

PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Ptolemy V Epiphanes, 205-180 BC. Obol (Bronze, 25.5 mm, 11.08 g, 12 h), Telmessus, time of the Fifth Syrian War, 202-195. Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon to right. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings folder; in left field, tripod. SNG Copenhagen 476 and Svoronos 791 (but both attribute this type to Ptolemy II, from the mint of Ake-Ptolemaïs). Dark brownish-green patina. Nearly very fine.

Catharine Lorber wrote on this coin:

"Daniel Wolf has noted that tripod obols of somewhat coarse style have a heavier average weight than the more common ones, and he has suggested to me that they may have been issued under Ptolemy V. I've noticed that they have different countermarks from the standard tripod bronzes, namely a female head or a prow with the letters KNI. The prow is certainly a countermark of Knidos, and the female head may be another countermark of the same city. The most common countermarks on the tripod bronzes of Ptolemy III are a letter A in a round punch or a letter B in a square punch. The different countermarks support the idea that tripod bronzes were issued at two different periods. I think it is less likely that the tripod symbol was used by two different mints. I accept Dan Wolf's suggestion and I associate the revival of the tripod bronzes with the Fifth Syrian War. There is also a very rare issue of tetradrachms with the tripod symbol, whose style places them in the reign of Ptolemy V (see Gemini V, 6 January 2009, lot 726). In my view, the tripod tetradrachms and the tripod bronzes are products of a single mint, probably Telmessus. Both coinages must have been struck to finance the defense of the city against Antiochus III, who seized all the Ptolemaic possessions in southern Asia Minor in his campaign of 197".