Silver Tetradrachm of Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Egypt, 13.47 g.
Title
Silver Tetradrachm of Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Egypt, 13.47 g.
Creator
Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Egypt
Date
204-180 BCE
Description
Obverse: Bust of Ptolemy I Soter facing right, wearing diadem and aegis.
Reverse: Eagle standing to left on thunderbolt; ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ: of King Ptolemy.
Style/Period: Hellenistic
The Ptolemies greatly revered the founder of their dynasty, Ptolemy I Soter, and retained his portrait head on their common silver tetradrachms until the end of the dynasty (see 91.096, 91.097). The eagle and thunderbolt on the reverse, attributes of his patron deity, Zeus, were his personal device. This coin was issued in the name of Ptolemy V Epiphanes (Illustrious), who was born to the throne and whose coming of age and crowning in 197 BCE provided the occasion of the decree of the priests of Memphis recorded on the Rosetta Stone. During its war with Syria from 202 to 200 BCE, Egypt needed to issue coins in several localities. Many of the issues were the conventional types, including the Soter tetradrachm.
The portrait shows considerable change in the characteristics of Ptolemy I from the coins he issued for himself (compare 91.096). Although the typical Soter features, the prominent, obstinate chin and the bulging forehead, are recognizable, the portrait is more idealized and youthful, the eye larger, the nose straighter and less beaked.
-- Kristin J. Brainard Addington, LU '94
Bibliography: O. Mørkholm, Early Hellenistic Coinage from the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamea (336-188 B.C.) (Cambridge 1991).
The portrait shows considerable change in the characteristics of Ptolemy I from the coins he issued for himself (compare 91.096). Although the typical Soter features, the prominent, obstinate chin and the bulging forehead, are recognizable, the portrait is more idealized and youthful, the eye larger, the nose straighter and less beaked.
-- Kristin J. Brainard Addington, LU '94
Bibliography: O. Mørkholm, Early Hellenistic Coinage from the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamea (336-188 B.C.) (Cambridge 1991).
Source
Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Purchased for Edward Gans, 1960.
Identifier
91.101
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Subject
Hellenistic, Ptolemy I Soter, diadem, aegis, eagle, thunderbolt, Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Egypt
Files
Citation
Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Egypt, “Silver Tetradrachm of Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Egypt, 13.47 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/234.