PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT. Ptolemy VI Philometor, first reign, 180-164 BC. Tetradrachm (Subaeratus, 26 mm, 11.07 g, 12 h), a contemporary imitation of an issue from Alexandria, irregular mint, after 170. Diademed head of Ptolemy I to right, wearing aegis. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ Eagle with closed wings standing left on thunderbolt. Cf. CPE 1117, SNG Copenhagen 262-8, Svoronos 1489 and Noeske 193 (for prototype). Very rare as a plated imitation. Slightly rough and with traces of cleaning and minor breaks in plating, otherwise, very fine.

The style of this piece is excellent, but its excessively low weight reveals it as a plated contemporary imitation with a bronze core. In the closed Ptolemaic monetary system, with its strict controls on currency circulation, such plated coins are encountered far less frequently than in the more open regions of the wider Hellenistic world