Didrachm - Magas

Magas served as governor of Kyrene under the Ptolemaic crown before declaring himself king around 276 BC — a rebellion against his half-brother Ptolemy II that triggered a prolonged but ultimately inconclusive war. This didrachm falls within that contested transition, struck by an administration increasingly asserting independence from Alexandria while still operating within a monetary tradition shaped by Ptolemaic weight standards. The city's silver coinage had long benefited from the enormous wealth generated by silphium exports, the plant's near-monopoly making Kyrene one of the wealthiest poleis in the Mediterranean world.