Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 919. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

DOMITIAN. 81-96 AD. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm (10.62 g, 6h). Ephesus (or Rome) mint. Struck 82 AD. Laureate head right / Legionary aquila between two standards. RIC I 227; RPC II 868 (same obv. die as plate coin); BMCRE p. 352, †; RSC 668 corr. (obv. legend). 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.