Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1938. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GREEK. MYSIA, Pergamon. Lot of ten AR Cistophoric Tetradrachms. All coins: Cista mystica with serpent, all within ivy wreath / Bow-case with serpents. Average good VF to EF. LOT SOLD AS IS, NO RETURNS. Ten (10) coins in lot. ($750)

The cistophoric tetradrachm was introduced by the rulers of Pergamon sometime before 180 BC, under Eumenes II, who had assisted the Romans at the battle of Magnesia against Antiochos III of Syria in 190 BC and subsequently obtained governance over a sizeble portion of Asia Minor, from the borders of Thrace to Lycaonia. The cistophorus, named for the cista or Dionysiac offering basket on its obverse, was intended as a uniform currency for use within the territory controlled from Pergamon, and was struck at other cities under its hegemony, including Ephesos in Ionia, Sardis and Tralles in Lydia, and Apameia in Phrygia. Struck to a lighter weight standard than the traditional Athenian tetradrachm (12.60 gm vs 17.00 gm), it did not circulate beyond the boundries of the kingdom, and thus formed a closed economic system controlled by Pergamon. The Pergamene coin lasted until 133 BC, when the last king, Attalos II died and bequeathed his realm to Rome. Coins of the cistophoric type were struck by later Roman governors and commanders in Asia Minor, and the denomination continued in use into the 2nd century AD.