PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter. 305/4-282 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 14.16 g, 12h). Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 294-282 BC. VF.

Electronic Auction 615
Lot: 429. Estimated: $ 200

Greek, 12h, Silver

Sold For $ 750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I Soter. 305/4-282 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 14.16 g, 12h). Alexandreia mint. Struck circa 294-282 BC. Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, wearing aegis around neck, small Δ behind ear / Eagle, with closed wings, standing left on thunderbolt; to left, ΔΜ monogram. CPE 174; Svoronos 205; SNG Copenhagen 88. Lightly toned, trace deposits, scratches, countermark on obverse. VF.

From the Colin E. Pitchfork Collection, purchased from Deiter Gorny, 10 December 1994.

In 305/4 BC, Ptolemy I assumed the title of Basileos, or King, of Egypt and the lands under its control. To mark the occasion, he initiated a new coinage with a diademed portrait himself on the obverse and a Macedonian eagle, standing on a thunderbolt, on the reverse. Ptolemy thus became the first king in history to place his own portrait on his coinage, a precedent still followed today. The obverse of this marvelous tetradrachm shows Ptolemy wearing the royal diadem and the aegis. In a curl of hair behind his ear is a tiny Greek letter Δ, or delta. This has been identified by Zervos and Hazard as the furtive signature of a singularly talented die engraver. However, according to Cathy Lorber in Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire (New York, 2018), the long span of time over which the delta appears, and the enormous number of dies that feature it, makes this unlikely: “It is more plausible that the letter Δ and other similar cryptic marks served some internal control function. They could, for example, designate die engraving workshops within the mint, or private contractors who provided dies to the mint, or the approval of an administrator.” (CPE vol. 1, p. 37)

Closing Date and Time: 12 August 2026 at 12:22:40 ET.

All winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer’s fee.