Numismata hellenica: a catalogue of Greek coins; with notes, a map ...

Metal Size Weight
M 10-9
JR 7i 261-2
M 251-1
M 212-9
KINGS.
NICOMEDES II.
Head of Nicomedes II. to r. H.. BASIAEiiS Eni*ANOYS NIKOMHAOY in three
lines ; between the first and second line, Jupiter standing to I., extending crown
over the king s name ; between Jupiter and second line of legend, eagle to L,
under which a monogram (KEPAH or AEPKH I) ; and lower, mP, year 183
(B.C. 114).— Electrotype.
Note.—So great is the resemblance of portrait on the tetradrachma of the second and third Nico-
medes, that they are only to be distiuguished from each other by the dates. It would seem, therefore,
that the third Nicomedes, who soon after his accession was expelled from Bithynia by Mithradates VI.,
called the Great, and who reigned no more than ten years after his restoration by the Romans,
retained on his coins, during the whole of his reign, the portrait of his father, who had occupied the
Bithynian throne for fifty-eight years. He seems to have retained not only the portrait of his
father as an obverse, but the legend also of his father's coins, namely, BaaiXiiai '^trupavovq Nikoixfidov.
He well deserved, thei-efore, the epithet *iXo7rarwp, by which he was known in history.
KINGS OF PERGAMUS.
ATTALUS II.
Diademate head of Attains II. to r. U. *IAETAIP0Y. Pallas seated to L, right
hand resting on shield ; in left, spear resting obliquely ; in field to r., bow ; in
field to I., term to r. ; in exergue, A in circle.
Note.—Of this coin, which is of great rarity, another specimen from the British Museum has been
described in Numismata Hellenica, Kings, p. 44. The exact resemblance of the portrait on both
specimens leaves no doubt that the coin is of one of the Pergamenian princes, who, contrary to the
rest of the dynasty, placed his own portrait on his coins instead of that of hia deified avuncular
ancestor. Three reasons concur in favouring the belief that this monarch was Attains the Second.
1. The coins bearing the portrait of Philetoerus, with an A on the reverse, agree better by their
extant numbers with the length of the reign of the first Attains (44 years), than with that of the
second (21 years). 2. The greater distance of time from the death of Philetoerus (124 years) renders
it more likely that Attains II. should have been tempted to follow the example of the Seleucidae in
making bis own portrait the obverse of his ccjins than Attains the First, who began to reign twentytwo
years after the death of Philetaerus. 3. The advanced age indicated by the portrait of the coin
under consideration, which accords with the fact that Attalus II. was turned of sixty when he began
to reign, and that he lived to the age of eighty-two.
EUMENES II.
Laureate head of Philetaerus to r. B. IAETAIP0Y. Pallas seated to L; her
extended right hand crowning the name of Philetserus; under the arm, EYME-
NOYS in monogram ; in field to r., bow.
KINGS OF EGYPT.
PTOLEM^US I. (Soter )
Head of I. Ptolemy to r. ft. Eagle on fulmen to I. ; around, DTOAEMAIOY SSl-
THPOS in field to ; L, DT ; AI, united ; lii, in mon.