ObverseImage: Wikimedia Commons · akhenatenator · CC0
Ptolemaic Tetradrachm
Egypt
-305–-30
Reference data compiled from public catalogs
Estimated Melt Value
$32.44
Based on Silver spot price ($78.96/oz) · 90.0% purity · 14.2g
Updated 10:08 PM
Collector premium not included
Specifications
| Country | Egypt |
| Years Minted | -305–-30 |
| Composition | Silver |
| Weight | 14.2 g |
| Diameter | 28 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Design
Obverse
Features the portrait of the ruling Ptolemy.
Reverse
Depicts an eagle standing on a thunderbolt.
History & Notable Facts
The eagle on the reverse of a Ptolemaic tetradrachm wasn't merely decorative; it stood on a thunderbolt, directly linking the ruler to Zeus and asserting divine right in a turbulent era.
These silver coins, struck in Alexandria from around 305 BCE until Cleopatra's fall in 30 BCE, typically weighed about 17 grams and featured the king's portrait on the obverse. Early issues under Ptolemy I copied Alexander the Great's style, with a helmeted head, while later ones showed more Egyptian influences, like cornucopiae. We know from hoards that they circulated widely in the Mediterranean, from Greece to Syria.
Variations exist, but records of exact mintages burned in ancient fires or were never kept. So, pinning down numbers is as futile as chasing pharaohs' ghosts.
Some specimens were overstruck on older coins, recycling metal amid economic strain.
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