Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 2347. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

[Greek] PAMPHYLIA, Side. Lot of five AR Tetradrachms. All coins: Circa 155-36 BC. Kleuch-, magistrate. Head of Athena right / Nike advancing left, holding wreath; pomegranate in left field, KLE-UC across field. SNG France 696; SNG Copenhagen 400; SNG von Aulock 4797. All VF condition. LOT SOLD AS IS, NO RETURNS. Five (5) coins in lot. ($750)

Side in Pamphylia, founded by colonists from Cumae in Aiolis, advanced to a primary position among the cities of Pamphylia on account of its large and hospitable harbor, which fostered an active ship-building trade. Side was constantly at loggerheads with its neighbor Aspendos, and was as well a prime trophy in the wars of the Hellenistic period. The massive production of tetradrachms of Side, beginning in the second quarter of the 2nd century BC, was a consequence of the Roman defeat of Antiochos III at Magnesia in 190 BC, after which the city was given over to the loyal Roman ally Eumenes II of Pergamon. The city became an anchor for Pergamene and later Roman control of the southern coast of Asia Minor, and the surge of coinage reflects its important position as a center for ship-building for the Mediterranean fleets and for regional trade. The "Kleuch-" tetradrachms must have been struck over a number of years, becoming a standard trade coinage. The coinage continued to use the civic symbol of the pomegranate "sidh".