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Author Topic: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women  (Read 10155 times)

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Offline Wiggam007

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This is a paper I am working on for a class on Greco-Roman Women. If anybody can give me some more suggested reading on the subject, in particular articles, or some more examples it would be appreciated. Any critiques on it are also welcome.  It was suggested I post this here by a member on Cointalk, I hope this is an appropriate area.  Another member there has already mentioned by grammar errors with regards to past and historical present tenses, which I promise to correct. ;)
 
With the beginning of the Hellenistic Period, many changes began to take place for Greek Women. One of the places this is most apparent was in Ptolemaic Egypt among the upper class. In the book, Women in the Classical World, it is noted that during the Classical period of Athens, among upper class women that they would only take two journeys in their life: “From their father’s house to their husband’s, the next from their husband’s house to the grave.”[1] Although this view that women mostly stayed in the house was only true for upper class women, and even then was probably exaggerated, it certainly kept them out of the public eye. However, with the changes taking place in the Hellenistic Period, these women gained more and more recognition. One of the places where this change can be seen in abundance is on the coinage struck during this period. The properties of these coins show the changing nature of women in power. In particular, the portraits on the coins the composition will be examined to show how they reflect the changing times for women of that period. Before the changes in the coins can be discussed, a little information is need on coins prior to the Hellenistic Period.
 
During the time before the Hellenistic Period, it was still not a “Man’s World” as one might expect from other sources.[2] During these times, the theme that pervaded design elements was the gods. In this respect, gender played little difference. It was just as common to see coins with Zeus or another male god as it was to see a female god. Athena and Nike were particularly popular for their representations of wisdom, warfare, strategy, and victory. In addition to the gods on coins, symbols of the power of a state were often popular. It was rare that a ruler would be portrayed on a coin during this time period. If there was an individual on a coin, besides a god, it was usually a famous person or character being honored. When the transition to the Hellenistic Period began, one of the major changes that had been brought in by Alexander the Great was the idea that living rulers should appear on coins. While gods and symbols were still often found on coins, there was a surge in the coins with individual rulers on them. This new tradition leads to the discussion at hand, putting women rulers on coins and how it symbolized the transitions that were occurring in society at the time.
 
One of the first things that is interesting about coinage relating to women from this time period is how they appear on the coins themselves. There are two distinctions to make here. The first is the double portrait, which showed both the queen and king that was ruling at the time. The second is when a woman’s portrait appeared alone on a coin. In the first case, the portraits of the two rulers were overlapping as seen in this coin minted under Ptolemy II in 265 B.C.E.:

[ADMIN REMOVED BROKEN IMAGE LINK Svoronos_0603.jpg]

This type of coin clearly shows both king and queen. While it is clearly honoring both of them at the same time, it is clear that gender roles are still in place with Arsinoe behind Ptolemy II. However, this brings an interesting case forward. A coin struck by Alexander Balas in 150 B.C.E. to commemorate his marriage to Cleopatra Thea shows her in front of him.[3] A number of things could have occurred in this case. She was from the Ptolemaic line, but was married to Alexander to unite the Seleukid throne with the Ptolemy, thus it could indicate her link to that power. It could also potentially be because of the occasion it symbolized. Finally, she was a very powerful woman, eventually becoming sole ruler for several years. While the case for this particular coin is not clear, the reason for the dual portraits on many coins during this time period is. Because there was no clear succession line after Alexander died, the new rulers had to find a way to legitimize their power. One way to do this was to issue coinage with their images on it, like Alexander did, to reinforce this image. This might include an appeal to the women of the upper class with their new found political freedom. There was also one final way to legitimize their authority. Egyptian rule was closely associated with the idea that the king was a kind of god. This is reinforced on the coin seen above. On the obverse the inscription reads “of the siblings” while the reverse reads “of the gods.”[4] This reinforcement of the idea that the rulers were gods would help legitimize the rulers. However, it is important to note that this idea of deification was only available to the dead. The reverse with the inscription thus bears to portraits of the Ptolemy II’s parents, Ptolemy I and Berenike I. But, this idea of deification doesn’t stop there. The coin also sets up a cult for the current rulers when they die. When Arsinoe dies, Ptolemy II begins to issue new coins which bear only her portrait.

[ADMIN REMOVED BROKEN IMAGE LINK Svoronos_0460.jpg]

The single portrait coins for women were fairly rare. There are two of particular note: the coins minted for Arsinoe II after her death, and the coins minted for Cleopatra VII as a ruler. In the first case, it was out of an issue of legitimacy and deification that the coins were minted. These coins were made to help bring a cult around her after death. This cult eventually became one of the most popular cults in the Ptolemaic kingdom.[5] This helps to legitimize the Ptolemy line and coins bearing her image were minted even under the reign of Ptolemy VI, over a hundred years later, testifying to her lasting image as a person who kept the power of the kingdom in the hands of her family. While she was a very powerful woman after death, another powerful woman featured alone on coinage was the last person to rule Egypt during the Hellenistic Period, Cleopatra VII. Although Cleopatra ostensibly ruled with several male counterparts, she was featured on coinage by herself. This is a testament to the power that she now wielded. This is the final pinnacle of the Hellenistic Period and it is capped by a woman ruling, showing the full transition from the society before to a new more open world for women.

SEE IMAGE BELOW

The final issue with regards to coinage is their metal content. While this might seem to be a kind of random topic, it actually shows what sphere of the society the coin was directed towards. In the first coin pictured, they were only minted from gold. This large denomination, called a oktadrachm, would have only been used for very large purchases such as land and buildings. They would have also been held by aristocrats. It was thus a sign of power to the aristocratic women to have the queen on the coins, helping to back up the king. Once again, with the second coin pictured, it was produced in gold, thus playing to the aristocratic audience. However, these were also produced in silver decadrachm as well.[6] The drachm was a denomination that was used for many common purchases. As such, this allowed the cult of Arsinoe II to spread among many different layers of the public as the currency would have been widely used. Cleopatra VII’s coinage was primarily produced in silver and copper. Because of this, it would have circulated throughout most of the public sphere. In this way, she reinforced the idea that she was the ruler rather than the others who also claimed this power.
 
In the end, these women who were pictured on the coins of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, were placed on the coins to further the dynasty. In the first case, Arsinoe II was placed on the coins first to back up her husband and then was placed on the coins as a symbol of her deification. In the second case, Cleopatra VII placed herself on coins in order to solidify her place as a ruler. In both of these cases, the primary goal was to reinforce the kingship. They did this by playing to different groups of people to create a good base. However, these also show the progress that was made from the previous Greek times, showing aristocratic women that they didn’t have to stay in the house, but could be powerful in this new time period.
 
[1] Elaine Fantham, Helene Peet Foley, Natalie Boymel Kampen, Sarah B. Pomeroy, and H. A. Shapiro, Women in the Classical World: Image and Text, (New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1994), Pg. 140.
 
[2] Wayne Sayles, Ancient Coin Collecting II: Numismatic Art of the Greek World, (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2007), Pg. 143.
 
[3] Sayles, Pg. 144.
 
[4] Sitta von Reden, Money in Ptolemaic Egypt: From the Macedonian Conquest to the End of the Third Century BC, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008), Pg. 50.
 
[5] Ibid., 52.
 
[6] Ibid.
 
Bibliography
Fantham, Elaine, Helene Peet Foley, Natalie Boymel Kampen, Sarah B. Pomeroy, and H. A. Shapiro. Women in the Classical World: Image and Text. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1994.
Reden, Sitta von. Money in Ptolemaic Egypt: From the Macedonian Conquest to the End of the Third Century BC. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Sayles, Wayne. Ancient Coin Collecting II: Numismatic Art of the Greek World. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2007.
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Offline PtolemAE

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2009, 02:48:42 pm »
It may be of interest that the images of Arsinoe and Berenike appear on gold, silver, and bronze coins at various locations and various times, while the image of Cleopatra VII appears on no silver or gold coins, only bronze - and only for a brief period of time.  Some Berenike coins are also inscribed with her name (not sure which Berenike it is, though).

You might wish to have a look at Hazzard's book on Ptolemaic coins for his interpretation of the meaning of images on Ptolemaic coinage. 

While the cult worship queens appear on a number of gold, silver, and bronze coins; and Cleopatra VII on a few medium bronzes, they are actually a tiny minority of all the coin types of the Ptolemaic kingdom.  By far the most common are images of Ptolemy I on a large majority of silver tetradrachms over 300 years and the image of Zeus Ammon on a large majority of large, medium, and small bronze coins over 300 years.  Clearly the dead queens were deified on coinage that might have been seen by the ruling classes but their overall role in coinage was minor for the vast populace that used bronze coins in daily life.

The other 'woman' who appears on a fairly substantial number of bronze coins (but not silver or gold) is the goddess, Isis, whom some (with no apparent justification) identify with varous earlier Cleopatras.  Those coins, depicting a generic goddess, vastly outnumber those depicting a real woman's image.  Those coins may have appeared as early as Ptolemy II, and almost certainly span the reigns of Ptolemy IV - VIII.

Of further interest is the actual naming of Cleopatra I on a series of 3 bronze coins of Ptolemy VI (ca. 180BC) that do not even depict her (one small one depicts Isis, one depicts Zeus Ammon, and another Alexander the Great).

A very common type of small 'generic small change' bronze coin of Cyprus depicts the local patroness goddess, Aphrodite, and may have been produced starting with Ptolemy IV and over a span of perhaps 100 years.

See www.ptolemybronze.com for lots of examples of various bronze types.

PtolemAE



Offline Dino

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2009, 09:52:41 am »
The Onassis Foundation in NYC recently had an exhibition called "Worshiping Women: Ritual and Reality in Classical Athens."  The purpose of the exhibit was "to re-examine preconceptions about the exclusion of women from public life in ancient Athens. The story told by these objects, and experienced in the galleries, presents a more nuanced picture than is often seen, showing how women’s participation in cults and festivals contributed not only to personal fulfillment in Classical Greece but also to civic identity."  See below link for more information.

[DEAD LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN]

You may want to see if you can get the Exhibition book.  There are some beautiful depictions of the the women of Ancient Greece and the perspective taken in the exhibit may be helpful to you. 

Also, the "invisibility" of women in Greek public life was not quite universal.  Take a look at the role and visibility of Spartan women in Spartan society for example.  Many in the Greek world argued that Spartan women ruled their men.  I don't have the reference in front of me so I may have the speaker and the the exact quote wrong, but I believe that the quote was attributed to the Spartan woman Gorgos, who when asked by an Athenian woman why the women in Sparta ruled by their men, replied with something to the effect of "because Spartan women are the only women who give birth to real men, oh snap."

OK, maybe the "oh snap" wasn't there in the quote.

You can find a few nice quotes and overviews in "The Spartans: The World of the Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece" by Paul Cartledge.  The book is only a summary view of Sparta and a very quick read, but it might be worth it foe you to head to Barnes and Noble, grab a cup of coffee and flip through it to see what Cartlege has to say about women in Sparta as compared to women in Athens.  Small part of what you're talking about I know, but an interesting perspective anyway.

Offline Wiggam007

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #3 on: November 07, 2009, 04:39:52 am »
Thank you for the responses, I will try to get a look at the Hazzard book before this paper is due. 

I also understand that this not necessarily an accurate representation.  I really have no experience with ancient coins, but when I saw a chance to write and learn about them, I jumped at it.  As such, I  really don't know anything about mintage numbers for these coins or anything like that to tell how widely used they are.  I can certainly imagine that coins bearing deities were still primarily the norm as it had been in the past. 

As for Spartan women, we have also talked extensively about them in this class, they are the other extreme: Athens keeping them out of public life because of their ideas of citizenship and the Spartan women dominating public life because of a need.  But, most other places took a moderate stance towards women.  In addition, these were primarily ideas from the classical period, as I understand.  That is what makes the coins from Egypt so interesting: a lot of social change comes out of Egypt where these two cultures are mixing as well as some other areas.  I'm not sure how good coins are as an indicator of social change (especially considering the question brought up of how many were actually produced) but more coins seem to come out of this area bearing women's portraits, so I figured it would be an interesting topic to explore.

Offline PtolemAE

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2009, 11:56:48 am »
yes it is interesting that any depictions of real women occur on ptolemaic coinage.  the queen, philistis (wife of Hieron II of Syracuse), is also depicted on Syracuse coins of the time period of Ptolemy II and may be modeled on the Arsinoe coins of Egypt.

the issue isn't specifically the mintages, it's the # of coin types issued.  the ptolemaic empire issued many many bronze coin types and only a tiny handful (none on the largest bronzes) depict real women.  on silver (also many types) and gold (many types) the proportion is greater but still somewhat modest.

PtolemAE

Offline Matt Kreuzer

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #5 on: December 26, 2009, 11:50:11 am »

Looking at "number of types" amplifies the importance of some very obscure coins.  The purpose is to understand how women were perceived on Ptolemaic coinage.  Rather than looking at this from "number of types" it makes more sense to look at this as "percentage of coins" found.  These are figures I am providing based on my experience with Ptolemaic coins. 

Women appear on 98+% of Ptolemaic gold coins.  The Theon Adelphon coins with two men and two women are counted as coins with a woman.  The most common is the veiled bust of Arsinoe II with attributes of Isis.
Women appear on less than 5% of Ptolemaic silver coins.
Women appear on ~15% of Ptolemaic bronze coins.  This figure counts coins described as Isis as a woman.  Worship of the royal women were often connected with Isis.

I hope that this provides some perspective.

Matt

PDP

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2010, 08:53:01 am »
Hello,

I read your Topic: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
Very interesting, thanks! 
Maybe you wanna take a look to my coin?
The Topic is from today: (Identification Help) "small ptolemaic (?) coin with double portrait"

Best Regards
PDP

Offline PtolemAE

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2010, 01:31:27 am »
Quote from: Matt Kreuzer on December 26, 2009, 11:50:11 am

Looking at "number of types" amplifies the importance of some very obscure coins.  The purpose is to understand how women were perceived on Ptolemaic coinage.  Rather than looking at this from "number of types" it makes more sense to look at this as "percentage of coins" found.  These are figures I am providing based on my experience with Ptolemaic coins. 

Women appear on 98+% of Ptolemaic gold coins.  The Theon Adelphon coins with two men and two women are counted as coins with a woman.  The most common is the veiled bust of Arsinoe II with attributes of Isis.
Women appear on less than 5% of Ptolemaic silver coins.
Women appear on ~15% of Ptolemaic bronze coins.  This figure counts coins described as Isis as a woman.  Worship of the royal women were often connected with Isis.

I hope that this provides some perspective.

Matt

Yes, it does.  That's a good point about the depictions on gold coins

The Ptolemaic kingdom held a few early queens in such high esteem they made it onto the most valuable (gold and giant silver) coins used by the ruling class and in large trade transactions, sometimes perhaps to pay soldiers as well.  And several of those high-value gold and silver coins with real women (Berenike, Arsinoe) actually have their names spelled out in full. 

The ordinary folks in the countryside, presumably using small bronze coins in day to day transactions, seldom saw an image of a real woman on their coins.  Most of the bronzes with a female image at all simply depict Isis or Aphrodite (not real women, and whose names are never spelled out on any Ptolemaic coin).  Only a tiny handful of very scarce types both depict and spell out the name a real woman like the gold and large silver coins clearly do.  And even the 'goddess' types that indirectly imply female importance are relatively few types.  It does bear on the way the real women were considered in importance and it's a bit puzzling. 

One wonders why real women were super-important in the small world of big money yet were almost completely neglected in the big world of small money.  It would seem that the 'coin queens' were more meaningful among the rulers than among the peasants.

And it's also interesting that when the ruler was finally a sole queen, the now-famous Cleopatra VII, there are (afaik) *no* silver or gold coins with her explicit portrait nor with her name spelled out.  Those explicit portrait depictions of Cleopatra VII that name her are relegated, afaik, exclusively to bronzes.  What an interesting turning of the tables...

PtolemAE

Offline Matt Kreuzer

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2010, 05:03:09 am »

The coins of Arsinoe II alone were struck before the four-headed coins you mentioned.  The first Arsinoe gold and silver are from 264 BC.  The first of the four-headed coins are c. 240 BC.  I believe that you may have it backward.



Offline PtolemAE

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2010, 03:37:37 am »
Quote from: Matt Kreuzer on January 25, 2010, 05:03:09 am

The coins of Arsinoe II alone were struck before the four-headed coins you mentioned.  The first Arsinoe gold and silver are from 264 BC.  The first of the four-headed coins are c. 240 BC.  I believe that you may have it backward.


have what backward?

the four-head gold coins I've seen dated to around 275-260BC (Ptolemy II) because of the Galatian shield symbol shared with other coins of that time period, but I'm not sure what the dates (spanning about 100 years) of the precious metal 'queen' coins has to do with the previous post.

PtolemAE

Offline Matt Kreuzer

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2010, 12:49:03 pm »

I was responding to this quote:

"One of the first things that is interesting about coinage relating to women from this time period is how they appear on the coins themselves. There are two distinctions to make here. The first is the double portrait, which showed both the queen and king that was ruling at the time. The second is when a woman’s portrait appeared alone on a coin. In the first case, the portraits of the two rulers were overlapping as seen in this coin minted under Ptolemy II in 265 B.C.E"

This is a mistake in Svoronos.  The Arsinoe II gold coins were struck before the Theon Adelphon gold.  264 BC for the Arsinoe II.  c. 240 BC for the Theon Adelphon gold.  Recent large gold hoards often contain just the Arsinoe type.  But some contain both.



Offline PtolemAE

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2010, 06:47:44 pm »
Tks for clarification Matt - there have been a lot of posts in this thread so I missed the connection.

I've never seen the 'four-head' coins (with the Galatian shield symbol) attributed to Ptolemy III (240BC).  Where can we read more about that and the recent gold hoards you've analyzed? 

It would be most interesting if Ptolemy III used the Galatian shield symbol we usually associate with pre-reform (pre ca. 260BC) Ptolemy II coinage.  I don't recall any other Ptolemy III coin with that symbol.  Tell us more...

PtolemAE


**************************
I was responding to this quote:

"One of the first things that is interesting about coinage relating to women from this time period is how they appear on the coins themselves. There are two distinctions to make here. The first is the double portrait, which showed both the queen and king that was ruling at the time. The second is when a woman’s portrait appeared alone on a coin. In the first case, the portraits of the two rulers were overlapping as seen in this coin minted under Ptolemy II in 265 B.C.E"

This is a mistake in Svoronos.  The Arsinoe II gold coins were struck before the Theon Adelphon gold.  264 BC for the Arsinoe II.  c. 240 BC for the Theon Adelphon gold.  Recent large gold hoards often contain just the Arsinoe type.  But some contain both.

***************************

Offline Matt Kreuzer

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #12 on: January 26, 2010, 09:30:49 pm »

Dan writes, Tks for clarification Matt - there have been a lot of posts in this thread so I missed the connection.
I've never seen the 'four-head' coins (with the Galatian shield symbol) attributed to Ptolemy III (240BC).  Where can we read more about that and the recent gold hoards you've analyzed? 
It would be most interesting if Ptolemy III used the Galatian shield symbol we usually associate with pre-reform (pre ca. 260BC) Ptolemy II coinage.  I don't recall any other Ptolemy III coin with that symbol.  Tell us more...

PtolemAE


And I respond.  These two coins are firmly dated in my own book.  There is some hoard interpretation there.  Dan, you value Svoronos (and sometimes SNG Cop.) as references.  One of the fundamental assumptions I make is that Svoronos is riddled with mistakes.  Hence we disagree.

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Re: Ptolemaic Coins as an Indicator of Changing Roles for Ruling Women
« Reply #13 on: January 26, 2010, 10:26:33 pm »
Quote from: Matt Kreuzer on January 26, 2010, 09:30:49 pm

Dan writes, Tks for clarification Matt - there have been a lot of posts in this thread so I missed the connection.
I've never seen the 'four-head' coins (with the Galatian shield symbol) attributed to Ptolemy III (240BC).  Where can we read more about that and the recent gold hoards you've analyzed? 
It would be most interesting if Ptolemy III used the Galatian shield symbol we usually associate with pre-reform (pre ca. 260BC) Ptolemy II coinage.  I don't recall any other Ptolemy III coin with that symbol.  Tell us more...

PtolemAE


And I respond.  These two coins are firmly dated in my own book.  There is some hoard interpretation there.  Dan, you value Svoronos (and sometimes SNG Cop.) as references.  One of the fundamental assumptions I make is that Svoronos is riddled with mistakes.  Hence we disagree.

Thanks Matt.  Your book is fairly large (at least 10 separate downloads) so page numbers would help guide us to the parts where you've analyzed hoards leading to your conclusion about the 4-head gold coins with the Galatian shield being from Ptolemy III instead of Ptolemy II.  I don't remember that part so I'd like to re-read it.

Anyone should have healthy dose of respect for researchers who spent a lifetime in museums doing 'hands-on' ancient numismatics.  But the big famous books are not always right as recent peer-reviewed publications in the numismatic journals have led to some improved understandings in certain areas (the Berenike bronzes, the 'tripod' issues, etc.).  Svoronos wasn't by any means perfect but for a taste of what was behind his work on Ptolemaic numismatics just read the small part of Bagnall's book on Ptolemaic Settlements Outside Egypt that discusses his visit to Svoronos' old offices at the Athens museum.  Bagnall describes the massive volume of data Svoronos had at his disposal about documented collections and find locations of many thousands of Ptolemaic coins at the Athens museum.  If not always 100% correct he certainly set the 'gold standard'.

Of course Svoronos monumental work was an awe-inspiring contribution to the study of Ptolemaic numismatics so the 'assumption' that it is 'riddled with errors' is fairly radical.  His work seems to have stood the test of time remarkably well. 

It'll be interesting and quite valuable if you can convincingly make major improvements on the famous reference works of Svoronos, Morkholm, etc.  You don't have an easy task ahead of you - one that will require many years of scholarly dedication and enormous mountains of data.  Until then I'm probably best off sticking with the widely accepted reference works.

Tks,

PtolemAE

 

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