Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 918. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DOMITIAN. 81-96 AD. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm (10.30 g, 7h). Ephesus (or Rome) mint. Struck 95 AD. Laureate head right / Distyle temple set on four-tiered base; within, cult statue of Augustus standing facing, holding spear, being crowned with wreath by female figure holding cornucopiae; ROM ET AVG across entablature, G in exergue. RIC I 224; RPC II 875 (same dies); BMCRE p. 352, *; RSC 407. VF, soft strike on reverse. ($500)

While no decisive evidence exists for the location of the mint of the cistophori during the reigns of Vespasian through Trajan, the style, legends, and, in particular, the consistent die axis point to Rome, suggesting that these coins were minted in the capital and then sent to Asia for local use.