2015-12-15 Tue

A Hellenistic tetradrachm bearing the portrait of Eumenes II, ruler of the Pergamene Empire on the obverse, is, perhaps, the only type of Pergamene coin to bear the portrait of a living ruler. All other coins depict the portrait of Philetarios, the dynasty’s founder. Some scholars believe that these issues may be posthumous and was sanctioned by Eumenes’ brother, Attalos II, in 172 BCE. After having travelled to Rome, news of Eumenes’ assassination near Delphi reached Attalos. It is likely that the coin depicts the portrait of a recently deceased king, if not living. A tetradrachm of this type was sold in a 2013 auction for €170,000 excluding the buyer’s fee.