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Chalkon - Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II
| Issuer | Ptolemaic Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 145 BC - 116 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of a female deity, identified as either Aphrodite or Arsinoe III, facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic style characteristic of Ptolemaic coinage. The hair is elaborately dressed and gathered, with visible tresses framing the face. No legend appears in the field, the design occupying the full flan within a plain border. |
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| Mintage | ND (145 BC - 116 BC) |
| Additional information |
Ptolemy VIII — nicknamed "Physkon" (Potbelly) by the Alexandrians who despised him — ruled through one of the most turbulent stretches of Ptolemaic history, having already fought a brutal civil war against his own brother Ptolemy VI before finally consolidating sole rule in 145 BC. His reign saw mass expulsions of intellectuals from Alexandria, a deliberate purge of the city's scholarly class that effectively ended the first great period of the Mouseion.
Small copper fractionals of this type circulated at the lowest register of the economy, handling transactions the silver coinage never touched. SNG Copenhagen 648 remains the standard reference specimen for die alignment on this issue.