PTOLEMAIC KINGDOM: Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 BC). Gold mnaieion or “octadrachm” (27.65 gm). Alexandria, after 265 BC. AΔEΛΦΩN, jugate busts right of Ptolemy II, diademed and draped, and Arsinoe II, diademed and veiled, Galatian shield behind heads / ΘEΩN, jugate busts right of Ptolemy I, diademed and draped, and Berenice I, diademed and veiled. Svoronos 603. SNG Cop. 132. Light mark on Ptolemy I's cheek. Good very fine.

PRICE: $12,750

Ptolemaic Egypt was the only Greek-ruled kingdom to regularly strike enormous gold coins weighing nearly an ounce. These pieces were first struck under Ptolemy II (282-246 BC), a brilliant ruler who built the famous Library of Alexandria and towering Pharos lighthouse. In 279 BC he married his sister, the beautiful and ambitious Arsinoe, in the manner of the old Egyptian pharaohs. While the marriage scandalized the Greeks, Ptolemy declared that he and his sister were gods, and not subject to the taboos of mere mortals. To mark the occasion, he introduced the largest gold denomination yet seen in the Greek world, the mnaieion, so called because it was worth one mina (100 drachms) of silver, an enormous sum in ancient times. Ptolemy II and his wife are portrayed together on the obverse, while the reverse depicts their parents, Ptolemy I and Berenice I, founders of the dynasty, for a total of four royal portraits. The Greek legend ΑΔΕΛΦΩΜ ΘΕΩΝ translates as “of the Sibling Gods.”