Published in Olivier & Lorber
Lot 76
PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Ptolemy IV Philopator, 225-205 BC. Mnaeion or Octadrachm (Gold, 26 mm, 27.83 g, 12 h), with a portrait of his father, Ptolemy III Euergetes (reigned 246-222), Alexandria, circa 219-217. Radiate and diademed bust of the deified Ptolemy III to right, wearing aegis and with trident over his left shoulder. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ Radiate cornucopia bound with royal diadem; below, ΔΙ. CPE 888. Olivier & Lorber 98 (this coin). Svoronos 1117. SNG Copenhagen 196.
Ex Leu Numismatik 86, 5 May 2003, 459.
Ptolemy IV was a relatively unpleasant character who was infamous for the murder of his mother Berenike II. The portrait on this coin is of his far more popular father, Ptolemy III. These coins were actually struck in enormous numbers - Egypt was famous throughout antiquity for its great wealth in gold (it had far smaller silver sources, especially in Pharaonic times) - but the vast majority of them were melted down and reused in ancient times.
