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Trichryson - Ptolemy II Alexandria
| Issuer | Ptolemaic Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 282 BC |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Diademed and draped bust of Ptolemy I Soter facing right, rendered in high relief in the Hellenistic portrait tradition. The king wears a royal diadem binding his voluminous, wind-swept hair, which falls in deeply modelled locks around the neck and temples. A aegis or draped garment is visible at the base of the neck, framing the portrait. The effigy displays the idealized yet individualized physiognomy characteristic of early Ptolemaic royal portraiture, with strong facial features and a commanding profile. The field is plain, with no encircling legend on the obverse. |
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| Mint | Alexandria |
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| Additional information |
The trichryson — worth three gold pieces — was part of Ptolemy II's ambitious monetary overhaul at the start of his reign, a deliberate break from the Attic weight standard that had governed Greek coinage for generations. By shifting to a lighter Phoenician-based standard, Alexandria positioned itself to dominate eastern Mediterranean trade on its own terms, making Ptolemaic gold inconvenient to exchange at par with Macedonian or Seleucid issues. The move was as much commercial policy as political assertion.
Svoronos 583 places this among the earliest Alexandrian issues of the new reign, struck before the monetary reforms fully consolidated.