364, Lot: 282. Estimate $200. Sold for $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MYSIA, Pergamum. L. Sempronius Atratinus. Quaestor, circa 42-39 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 12.81 g, 12h). Cistophoric series. Cista mystica with serpent; all within ivy wreath / Bowcase with serpents; monogram above, Q to left, serpent-entwined staff to right. Metcalf, “A note on the later Republican cistophori,” SNR 88 (2009), pp. 205-8; SNG France 1766. Good VF.

From the RBW Collection, purchased from Pars Coins.

Metcalf demonstrates that obverse die links are shared between the cistophori of L. Sempronius Atratinus with the serpent-staff and those with torch (see lots 287–8 below), traditional symbols of Pergamum and Ephesus, respectively. It is uncertain where these coins were actually struck.