PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Ptolemy V Epiphanes, 205-180 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 27 mm, 14.29 g, 1 h), Telmessos (?), circa 202-197. Diademed head of Ptolemy I to right, wearing aegis around neck. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ Eagle with closed wings standing left on thunderbolt; in field to left, tripod. Gemini V (2009), 726. Nomos 24 (2022), 259 (same dies). SNG Copenhagen -. Svoronos -. Extremely rare and of great historical interest. Lightly toned. Minor traces of corrosion and with a small die breaks, otherwise, good very fine.



This coin was likely minted in Telmessos in Lycia during the Fifth Syrian War (202-195 BC), where Ptolemy II of Telmessos, a local dynast of the second generation, ruled. He traced his lineage to the Ptolemaic dynasty through his father, Lysimachos of Telmessos, son of Ptolemy I. After the decisive victory of the Seleukids under Antiochos III at the Battle of Panium (200 BC) and the conquest of Coele-Syria (200-198 BC), the great Seleukid monarch also seized the Ptolemaic possessions in Asia Minor in 197 BC. Ptolemy II of Telmessos then reached an agreement with Antiochos III, who allowed him to remain in power until he had to abandon Asia Minor after the defeat at the Battle of Magnesia in 190/189 BC. Ptolemy II adeptly switched political allegiances again, with his position being explicitly recognized by the Romans in the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BC. His rule is last documented in 181 BC, after which his family disappears from the historical records.