AE 9mm. 0.54g
Circa 290-287/1 BCE.
Veiled head of Eurydike to right / Tripod, [Ε]ΥΡΥΔΙΚΕΩΝ to left.
Milne, Autonomous 5; SNG Copenhagen 1105. 0.54g, 9mm, 6h
Ex Nick Collins Collection
Ex Numismatik Lanz München
Eurydike, the daughter of Lysimachos, as opposed to the far more renowned Eurydike (born Adea), daughter of Cyname, was one of the ancient high maintenance children.
Of course, being the daughter of the king had its advantages, and roughly in 290 BCE, Lysimachos made a present of the city of Smyrna. He renamed it in her honor, which lasted for roughly four years. These rare coins, which depict her on one side and a common tripod (what the ancients used when they couldn’t think of something else) on the other, were minted for her.
Eurydike was married to Antipater II, who was the son of Kassander and was named after his father, Antipater. After Kassander died, then his older brother Philip IV died a few months later, Antipater II should have inherited the Macedonian crown.
However, Kassander‘s wife Thessalonika favored her youngest son, Alexander V. Alexander V then ceded territory to Pyrrhos, and also called in Demetrios I Poliorketes, to fight against his brother. Antipater II, for his part, called in his father-in-law Lysimachos.
Both saviors turned out the exact opposite of that. While Pyrrhos did boot Antipater II, Demetrios arrived later and killed Alexander V. Antipater II, who yapped non-stop at Lysimachos‘ court about the unfairness, eventually annoyed him to such a point that Lysimachos ordered his execution.
However, now it was his daughter Eurydike that yapped non-stop. She eventually frustrated him to such a degree that he ordered her execution as well.