Ptolemy III Euergetes, 246-222 BC, Tetrobol

Ptolemy III Euergetes, tetrobol, AE, 246–222 BC, Alexandria mint, 246–222 BC, 35.12 g, 44 mm. Obverse with laureate head of Zeus-Ammon right, the ram’s horn curling around the ear. Reverse with eagle standing left on thunderbolt; Greek legend ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ arranged around. Struck on a large, thick Ptolemaic bronze flan of the standard Alexandrian series. Reference: SNG Copenhagen 175.

Ptolemy III’s Alexandrian bronze coinage formed part of the centralized Ptolemaic monetary system that supplied fiduciary bronze for daily transactions in Egypt while projecting royal legitimacy through dynastic types. The Zeus-Ammon portrait reflects the Ptolemaic use of Egyptian and Greek religious syncretism, while the eagle on thunderbolt served as a long-running emblem of Ptolemaic kingship from the early third century BC onward; these issues belong to the period of Ptolemy III’s military successes and administrative consolidation, including the Third Syrian War and associated increases in royal prestige.