Ptolemy IX Soter II or Ptolemy X Alexander I - 22.18 g AE 28 - Bronze

Ptolemaic Egypt produced some of the largest bronze coins ever struck in antiquity, with certain issues reaching sizes far beyond anything typical of the Greek or later Roman world. This piece falls into the substantial middle range of that tradition, a solidly-sized bronze reflecting the continued Ptolemaic practice of issuing large-format coinage for circulation within Egypt's closed monetary system.

This bronze was struck at Alexandria circa 113 to 81 BC, a period during which the Ptolemaic throne passed back and forth repeatedly between the brothers Ptolemy IX Soter II and Ptolemy X Alexander I amid a prolonged succession struggle orchestrated largely by their mother, Cleopatra III, making a definitive attribution between the two rulers uncertain for this type. The obverse depicts the diademed head of Zeus Ammon facing right, wearing a taenia, the syncretic ram-horned form of Zeus closely associated with Egyptian Amun and central to Ptolemaic royal ideology. The reverse shows two eagles standing left on a thunderbolt, heads turned left with wings closed, accompanied by a cornucopia in the left field and no symbol between their legs, alongside the Greek inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ ("of King Ptolemy"). It is catalogued as Svoronos 1424, SNG Copenhagen 305–307, and Sear 7901, with the circa 113–81 BC dating reflecting the Huston and Lorber reattribution (NC 2001).

Obverse: Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right, wearing taenia

Reverse: Two eagles standing left on thunderbolt, head left, wings closed, cornucopia in left field, nothing between legs

Catalogues: Svoronos 1424, SNG Copenhagen 305-307, Sear 7901

Mint Info: Alexandria, circa 113-81 BC

Mass: 22.18 g

Diameter: 28 mm