Extremely Rare Type

Sale: CNG 76, Lot: 682. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 12 September 2007.  Sold For $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MYSIA, Pergamon. Circa 166-67 BC. AR Tetradrachm (12.62 g, 1h). Cistophoric type. Cista mystica, serpent to right, within ivy wreath / Two serpents entwined around bowcase; monogram to left, uncertain symbol to right. Unpublished in the standard references, but cf. Künker 89, 1338 for a similar type in a later series. Good VF. Extremely rare.

The standard representation of the cista mysitca on coinage depicts the serpent exiting to the left of the basket, but on this example, the serpent exits to the right. This variety is so rare, and the usual depiction so canonical, that it must have been the result of an engraver’s error.