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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Geographic - All Periods| ▸ |North Africa| ▸ |Kyrenaica||View Options:   | | | Kyrenaica, the eastern coastal region of Libya, was colonized by Greeks beginning in the 7th century B.C. Western Kyrenaicia was known as Pentapolis for its five cities: Cyrene (near modern Shahat) with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), Arsinoe or Taucheira (Tocra), Euesperides or Berenice (near modern Benghazi), Balagrae (Bayda) and Barce (Marj). Cyrenaica produced barley, wheat, olive oil, wine, figs, apples, wool, sheep, cattle, and silphium, an herb that grew only in Kyrenaica and was regarded as a medicinal cure and aphrodisiac. Kyrene was one of the greatest intellectual and artistic centers of the Greek world, famous for its medical school, academies, and fine Hellenistic architecture. In 525 B.C. Persia took the Pentapolis. Alexander the Great received tribute from these cities after he took Egypt. The Pentapolis was annexed by Ptolemy I Soter. It briefly gained independence under Magas of Cyrene, stepson of Ptolemy I, but was reabsorbed into the Ptolemaic empire after his death. It was separated from the main kingdom by Ptolemy VIII and given to his son Ptolemy Apion, who, dying without heirs in 96 B.C., bequeathed it to the Roman Republic. |
LT110972. Bronze Lot, 9 bronze coins of North Africa & Sicily, aF - VF, c. 14.2 - 22.6mm, unattributed (but probably Ptolemaic Kyrene, Sardina, Siculo-Punic, and several Syracuse), no tags or flips, the lot is the actual coins in the photograph; as is, no returns, 9 coins; $170.00 (€159.80)
Kyrene, North Africa, Ptolemy Apion, c. 101 - 96 B.C.
Ptolemy Apion was a son of Ptolemy VIII, perhaps by an Egyptian concubine. This makes him a half-brother of Ptolemy IX and X. Ptolemy Apion died in 96 B.C., without an heir, leaving his kingdom to the Roman Republic.
According to Butrey, Apion's coinage was nothing but very small change, with a peak about 1.3 grams. Buttrey notes, "the Greek coinage of Cyrenaica, of glorious tradition, ended in the lamentable small bronzes of Apion."GB110044. Bronze quarter-obol, Buttrey Cyrene 542 - 603, VF, tight flan, dark patina, earthen deposits, weight 1.127 g, maximum diameter 11.6 mm, die axis 0o, Kyrene (near Shahhat, Libya) mint, c. 101 - 96 B.C.; obverse diademed head of Ptolemy I as Zeus right, wearing aegis; reverse ΠTOΛEMAIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ, head of Libya or Isis right; ex Naville auction 65 (30 May 2021), lot 111 (part of); ex Richard Plant collection; rare; $80.00 (€75.20)
Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX Soter II (Lathyros), 116 - c. 110 B.C.
After Ptolemy VIII died in 116 B.C., Cleopatra III ruled with her mother Cleopatra II and son Ptolemy IX. In 110 B.C., she replaced Ptolemy IX as co-regent with her second son Ptolemy X. Ptolemy IX regained the throne in 109 but was again replaced in 107 B.C. In 101 B.C., Ptolemy X had his mother Cleopatra III murdered and then ruled alone or with his niece and wife, Berenice III.GP111973. Bronze AE 15, cf. Svoronos 1845; Buttrey Cyrene 378; SNG Cop 685, Noeske 392, Weiser -, VF, cleaned and porous, weight 3.351 g, maximum diameter 14.5 mm, die axis 0o, Kyrene (near Shahhat, Libya) mint, 116 - c. 110 B.C.; obverse horned head of Zeus-Ammon right, wearing diadem; reverse ΠTOΛE BAΣIΛE ΣΩ (or similar), headdress of Isis; $60.00 (€56.40)
Cyrene, North Africa, c. 500 - 480 B.C.
The Valentine Coin! Silphium, which is now extinct, was so critical to the Kyrenian economy that most of their coins depict it. The plant was used as a spice and to treat all kinds of maladies including cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, pain, and warts. It was so widely used as a contraceptive that it was worth its weight in denarii. The traditional heart shape, the symbol of love, is probably derived from the shape of the silphium seed due to the use of silphium as a contraceptive.
"By the next day this maiden and all her girlish apparel had disappeared, and in the room were found images of the Dioscuri, a table, and silphium upon it." - Description of Greece, Pausanias 3.16.3, 2nd Century A.D.SH15373. Silver drachm, Traité I, pl. 63, 15; BMC Cyrenaica 36; ex Leu 22, 1979, 181, gVF, weight 2.562 g, maximum diameter 12.1 mm, die axis 90o, obverse two Silphium fruits set on a base, pedicels coinciding, pellet above and below; reverse Silphium fruit in an incuse square, pellet in each corner; very rare; SOLD
Kyrene, Kyrenaika, North Africa, c. 37 - 36 B.C.
This is perhaps the last numismatic depiction of a silphium plant.
The Crassus in named on this coin cannot be the wealthy triumvirate colleague of Julius Caesar and Pompey, who died in 53 B.C., long before this coinage. This Crassus is almost certainly his grandson, Marcus Licinius Crassus the Younger. He fought with Sextus Pompey but transferred his loyalty to Marc Antony in c. 36 B.C. Under Mark Antony he was responsible for Crete and Cyrene. Shortly before Actium, Crassus defected to Octavian. He was consul in 30 B.C., triumphed in 27 B.C., and died long after.GB96100. Bronze quadrans, RPC Online I 918 (12 spec.); BMC Cyrenaica p. 64, 26; Asolati 149a-b; SNG Cop 1312; Müller Afrique -, VF, brown tone, well centered, porous, edge cracks/splits, beveled obverse edge, weight 3.366 g, maximum diameter 17.3 mm, die axis 180o, Kyrene (near Shahhat, Libya) mint, magistrate Crassus, c. 37 - 36 B.C.; obverse KPA (Crassus), head of Libya right, with corkscrew curls; reverse silphium plant, K-Y/P-A (Kyrene) flanking in two divided lines; rare; SOLD
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