377, Lot: 242. Estimate $100. Sold for $65. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Ephesus(?). L. Sempronius Atratinus(?). Quaestor, circa 42-39 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 12.35 g, 5h). Cistophoric series. Cista mystica with serpent; all within ivy wreath / Bowcase with serpents; monogram above, Q to left, torch to right. W. E. Metcalf, “A Note on the Later Republican Cistophori,” SNR 88 (2009), pp. 205–8; Stumpf 2 (M. Antonius, c. 113/2); SNG von Aulock 1867. VF, some minor roughness and striking weakness.

From the RBW Collection.

The identification of the magistrate, date of issue, and mint of this issue is still uncertain. Metcalf’s analysis of the monogram is the most convincing, but the identification of the actual individual named is still unknown. The absence of any of these issues from hoards is the most perplexing, but Metcalf thinks this phoenomenon establishes a terminus post quem for the coins, suggesting a date after 41 BC due to their absence from the large Halicarnassus Hoard. Such a date, if correct, makes a connection to Atratinus more attractive. As for the mint, Metcalf’s identification of obverse die links between the coins with lit torch and serpent-entwined thyrsus strongly suggests a single mint for their issue. Previous numismatists identified the mint as either Pergamum or Ephesus, based on these symbols, and while Metcalf agrees either candidate is possible, he notes that their style does not match other cistophori from these cities, so a third location is more likely.