276, Lot: 234. Estimate $150. Sold for $150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. temp. Ptolemy II Philadelphos. 285-246 BC. Lot of three: a bronze from a Ptolemaic mint in Sicily, along with two Syracusan mint ‘imitations’ struck under Hieron II. Includes: 1. Ptolemaic mint in Sicily (27mm, 16.30g, 12h). Laureate head of Zeus right / Eagle with wings spread standing left on thunderbolt; Galatian shield to left; dotted border. Wolf & Lorber, ‘Alexandrian’ style, P54 (a48/p50; this coin); Svoronos 610 2. Syracuse(?) mint. Struck under Hieron II (27mm, 17.20g, 1h). Similar to last, but varying style and with linear border on reverse. Wolf & Lorbe, ‘West Greek’ style, subgroup 1, H08 (A1/P-; this coin); Svoronos 610. Rare transitional issue without control (one of 8 known, all from the same obverse die) 3. Syracuse(?) mint. Struck under Hieron II (28mm, 15.81g, 10h). Similar to last, but A behind eagle’s tail. Wolf & Lorber, ‘West Greek’ style, subgroup 2, H37 (A19/P29; this coin); Svoronos 615. Good Fine to Near VF, dark green patinas, some minor roughness.

In their article in the latest Numismatic Chronicle (read here), Daniel Wolf and Catharine Lorber thoroughly examine a class of the ‘Galatian shield’ bronze coinage commonly given to the Alexandria mint. While the bronze issues with an enigmatic monogram (Σ with serifs) above the shield can be attributed to the mint of Alexandria, those without this control exhibit distinguishing features, with provenances and metrology suggesting a Sicilian mint. While this theory of a western origin has been posited before, Wolf and Lorber present the first comprehensive investigation of the series, accompanied by a die study. Their analysis shows that the initial output of Sicilian ‘Galatian shield’ bronzes appear to have been produced under Alexandrian minting specialists, with related ‘imitative’ issues of ‘Western Greek’ style following this period of production under Ptolemaic authority. These ‘Western Greek’ style coins were struck with loose dies and share a common fabric, metrology, and border style with the Syracusan coinage of Hieron II, as well as featuring shared controls with the coinage struck in Hieron’s name, all indicating a Sicilian mint’s operation under Hieron superseding the Ptolemaic, or perhaps the wholesale transfer of the mint (if so, very likely to Syracuse).