Catalog
Tetradrachm - Cleopatra VII Ascalon
| Issuer | Ptolemaic Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 50 BC - 49 BC |
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| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Eagle standing left upon a thunderbolt, rendered in the standard late Ptolemaic numismatic convention. A palm-branch is visible beneath the eagle's right wing, a symbol of victory. A dove is depicted in the left field, a distinctive iconographic element specific to the Ascalon civic mint issues. The field is flanked by a two-line Greek legend divided around the central type, citing the sacred and inviolate status of the city of Ascalon and the regnal year 55 (LΝΕ) in the Egyptian dating system. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΙΕΡΑΣΑΣΥΛΟΥ ΑΣΚΑΛΩΝΙΤΩΝ LΝΕ (Translation: Sacred and Inviolate of (the people of) Ascalon Year 55) |
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| Additional information |
Struck at Ascalon during the final decade of Ptolemaic rule, this tetradrachm belongs to a period when Cleopatra VII was locked in succession struggles following the death of Ptolemy XII Auletes in 51 BC. Ascalon, a semi-autonomous coastal city in Judaea, operated its own mint and produced Ptolemaic-type silver under royal authority — an arrangement reflecting the fragmented administrative reach of a kingdom already hemorrhaging territory to Rome.
The 50–49 BC window places this coin squarely in the period of Cleopatra's joint reign with her brother Ptolemy XIII, before he forced her into exile in 48 BC.