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1/8 Obol - Cleopatra III
| Issuer | Ptolemaic Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 107 BC - 101 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/8 Obol (1⁄48) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra III depicted to the right, rendered in the Hellenistic royal portrait tradition. The effigy displays characteristic Ptolemaic stylistic conventions, with the queen's hair elaborately arranged beneath a royal diadem. The flan is small and irregular, consistent with the low-denomination bronze coinage of the late Ptolemaic period. Surface patination and wear obscure finer details, though the portrait type remains identifiable within the Svoronos classification. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, a canonical reverse type employed throughout Ptolemaic bronze coinage. The eagle is depicted with wings closed, referencing the royal iconography of Zeus associated with the Ptolemaic dynasty. Control marks or monograms appear in the field. The abbreviated legend KΔ is inscribed in the field, serving as a denomination or mint control indicator consistent with Svoronos type 1732. |
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| Additional information |
Cleopatra III ruled jointly with her son Ptolemy IX until 107 BC, when she engineered his expulsion from Egypt in favor of his younger brother Ptolemy X — a politically calculated move that left her the dominant force behind the throne. These fractional bronzes circulated during the turbulent years of that co-regency with Ptolemy X, a period marked by persistent dynastic instability and Cleopatra III's unusually overt exercise of royal authority, including precedence over her own son in official documents.