PTOLEMY II GOLD PENTADRACHM (TRICHRYSON) – TYRE ISSUE CA. 275/4 BC) – CHOICE AU NGC GRADED GREEK EGYPT COIN (INV. 20096)

$25,500.00

20096. EGYPT. PTOLEMAIC KINGS. PTOLEMY II, 285/4–246 BC.
Gold Pentadrachm (Trichryson), 17.81 g, 23 mm. Issue of Tyre, ca. 275/4 BC.
Obv. Diademed bust of Ptolemy I right, with aegis around neck. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠTOΛEMAIOY, eagle standing left on thunderbolt, H above club in left field.
CPE 555; Svoronos 636; BMC 74; Weber 8256.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 100, 5/29/2017, lot 178.
NGC graded CHOICE AU, Strike 4/5, Surface 3/5, “edge marks.”

Like most Ptolemaic precious metal issues struck at mints in Phoenicia, this gold pentadrachm of Ptolemy II Philadelphus was struck at Tyre to support military aims in the region—in this case, the defense of Ptolemaic Phoenicia and Coele–Syria against the Seleucid king, Antiochus I Soter, during the First Syrian War (274–272 BC). In this conflict, Seleucid forces initially occupied Damascus and began to advance southward, but Ptolemy II brought the war to an end by using his navy to capture Seleucid coastal territory in Asia Minor. Not only was Tyre an important city for retaining control of Phoenicia, it was also a major port for the Ptolemaic fleet.