Octodrachm of Ptolemy III

Place of OriginEgypt

Datec. 247-221 BCE

DimensionsDiameter: 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm)

MediumDie-stamped bronze.

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LineGift of Carl B. Spitzer

Object number

1934.8

Not on View

DescriptionObverse: Head of Zeus Ammon. Reverse: Eagle on Keraunos (thunderbolt). Cornucopia left in field. Monogram between eagle's legs. The circular depressions in the center of these coins are the mark of the instrument used for centering the coin blanks during minting.

Label TextThis coin was minted by Ptolemy III, grandson of Ptolemy I (coin no. 15). The extent to which Egypt came under Greek domination is seen in the head on this coin, a fusion of the principal gods of Greece (Zeus) and Egypt (the ram’s horns of Ammon).Comparative ReferencesSee also Svoronos, I.N., Ta Nomismata Ton Ptolemaion, Athens, 1904, vol. II, no. 964, p. 145.