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Hemidrachm - Ptolemy III Euergetes Alexandria
| Issuer | Ptolemaic Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 246 BC - 222 BC |
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| Currency | Attic drachm (circa 323 – 306 BC) |
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| Obverse description | Bearded head of Zeus-Ammon in right profile, distinguished by the characteristic ram's horn curling before the ear, a syncretic attribute merging the Greek Zeus with the Egyptian Ammon. The deity wears a taenia adorned with the basileion, the royal Egyptian headdress element. The hair and beard are rendered in bold, flowing locks arranged in the Hellenistic artistic tradition, with deeply engraved curls radiating dynamically from the crown and cascading along the neck. The portrait is set within a broad flan, surrounded by a dotted border, and exhibits the vigorous, high-relief die-cutting characteristic of the Alexandrian mint under Ptolemy III. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Ptolemy III inherited a kingdom already at war — his sister Berenice II had been murdered at the Seleucid court, triggering the Third Syrian War within months of his accession. The campaign that followed took Ptolemaic forces as far east as Babylon and Susa, an unprecedented reach that briefly made Ptolemy III the most powerful ruler in the Hellenistic world. The bronze issues of his reign, heavy and consistently struck at Alexandria, reflect a treasury flush with looted Seleucid wealth.
The Lorber 1.2 classification places this hemidrachm within the earliest phase of his coinage, before the weight standard began its gradual drift downward across the reign.