Greek Silver & Bronze

Lot 3540    Session 12 (11.30am Thursday)    Greek Silver & Bronze

Estimate $800
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $600

EGYPT, Kingdom of, Cleopatra VII, (51-30 B.C.), copper eighty drachms, issued after 52-51 B.C., (16.782 grams), Alexandria mint, obv. head of Cleopatra VII to right, rev. eagle to left with closed wings, standing on thunderbolt, **[K]LEOPATRAS [BASILISSHS], P* in right field, (S.7955, Sv. 1871, SNG Cop 419, BMC 4-5). Has been cleaned and retoned, otherwise fine and rare.

The coinage is marked with the numeral **P* = 80 and corresponds to eighty bronze drachms which gave it a value of one obol on the silver standard. Ptolemy XII Auletes died in 51 BC leaving power in the hands of his two oldest children: Cleopatra VII (18 years old) and Ptolemy XIII (10 years old). Following the Egyptian tradition, Cleopatra married her own brother. At the age of 18, she became the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. A very heavy destiny for this young promising queen. Descendant of Greek culture, she inherited both Greek knowledge brought by Alexander the Great and the Egyptian culture. She had knowledge in literature, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. She could even ride a horse and had a great talent for languages. She could speak easily with people from neighbouring countries without translators and is reputed to have been the first member of her family in their 300-year reign in Egypt to have learned the Egyptian language. Cleopatra also took the title of Queen of Kings and there is also a story that Cleopatra asked several of her servants to test out various forms of suicide, before choosing the method which she believed to be most effective.