★ A rare didrachm of Ptolemy VIII ★

PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon) (?), second reign, 145-116 BC. Didrachm (Silver, 19 mm, 6.75 g, 12 h), uncertain mint on Cyprus. Draped bust of Dionysos to right, wearing wreath of ivy and fruit; behind, thyrsos. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ Eagle with spread wings standing left on thunderbolt. Noeske 385. SNG Copenhagen 637-8. Svoronos 1789. Rare. Light marks and with a few scratches on the reverse, otherwise, about very fine.

From a Canadian collection and from the Hanberry Collection, Goldberg 96, 14 February 2017, 1902, ex Huston FPL 126, 5 November 1993, 12.

In a rare departure from the usual practice of placing the portrait of Ptolemy I Soter on the obverse of Ptolemaic silver, this coin instead depicts Dionysos, the supposed divine progenitor of the Ptolemaic dynasty.