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Banner Artemide LXI
Lot # 500
Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius. AR Denarius, 34 BC, Alexandria mint. Obv. ANTONI. ARMENIA DEVICTA. Bare head of Marcus Antonius right; behind, Armenian tiara. Rev. CLEOPATRAE REGINAE REGVM FILIORVM REGVM. Draped and diademed bust of Cleopatra right, prow before. Cr. 543/1; RRSC D 318. AR. 3.83 g. 18.00 mm. R. Rare and historically important example, fully readable. Areas of flat strike. Traces of a control-mark (?) on reverse. VF. Through Cleopatra, Egypt became involved in the chaotic political struggles of the Roman civil war, in which Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius, and Octavianus sought to control Egypt’s wealth of grain and gold. Eventually this led to the end of Egypt’s existence as a sovereign nation as well as the destruction of the Ptolemaic dynasty. This coin was struck after Antonius and Cleopatra had married and joined forces to fight Octavianus. A year later, in 31 BCE. Octavianus would defeat the couple at the Battle of Actium, and the ruling dynasty begun by Ptolemy I would end with Cleopatra’s death in 30 BCE. (ART INSTITVTE CHICAGO).