Sale: CNG 70, Lot: 950. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 September 2005.  Sold For $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NERVA. 96-98 AD. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm (10.01 g, 7h). Uncertain Asia Minor (or Rome) mint. Struck 97 AD. Laureate head right / Six grain ears tied in a bundle. RIC II 120; BMCRE 81; RSC 45. VF, reverse struck with worn die. ($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.