PTOLEMY II AE35 BRONZE – ISSUE OF CHREMONIDES – CHOICE VF 5-5 5-5 NGC GRADED GREEK PTOLEMAIC KINGDOM COIN (Inv. 19853)

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19853. PTOLEMAIC KINGDOM. PTOLEMY III, 246–222 BC.
Bronze AE35 (bronze Triobol), 32.62 g, 34 mm. Issue of Alexandria.
Obv. Diademed head of Zeus Ammon right. Rev. ΠTOΛEMAIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ, eagle with folded wings standing left on thunderbolt, filleted cornucopia in left field, XP control between eagle’s legs.
CPE B396; Svoronos 965; SNG Copenhagen 173–175.
NGC graded CHOICE VF, Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5, chestnut brown patina with reddish highlights, nicely preserved specimen with perfect 5/5 for both strike and surface.

The control on this bronze issue of Ptolemy, part of a series in different modules, is interesting from many points of view. Lorber, in her CPE, notes the fine style of these coins, part of her Series 5B. The control resembles the Christian chi–rho, the monogram of Christ, but this is pure coincidence. In fact, the noted Greek scholar Svoronos, who compiled the first catalogue of Ptolemaic coinage, associated the monogram with the Greek exile Chremonides. Svoronos believed that the Athenian was the admiral in charge of the Ptolemaic fleet during the Third Syrian War and these bronzes were struck by him to support the war effort. Although not universally accepted, the association with Chremonides remains a possibility.