New cistophori!

[zadie]

I was lucky enough to acquire a bunch of new cistophori this last week. It's not often that so many come up at once! Three of the coins are plated in the Metcalf's work The Later Republican Cistophori published in 2017. Besides Stumpf, this is the primary reference for these coins.

 

Promagisterial Cistophori. Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther as Proconsul and Imperator in Cilicia. AR Cistophoric T etradrachm. Apameia, 56-53 BC. Kastor, son of Apollodoros, magistrate. Serpent emerging from cista mystica; all within wreath / P·LENTVLVS·P·F·IMPERATOR. Two serpents entwined by a bow case. In the left field, AΠA. In the exergue, KAΣTOPOΣ - AΠOΛΛOΔΩPOY. 27 mm, 12.20 g. Stumpf 73; Metcalf V (Apameia). Ex Lanz 157 (9 December 2013), lot 182.

 

Promagisterial Cistophori. Gaius Fabius Hadrianus as Proconsul in Asia. Demeas, magistrate. AR Cisto phoric Tetradrachm. Pergamon 55-53 BC. Serpent emerging from cista mystica; all within wreath / C·FABI·M·F·PROCOS. Two serpents entwined by bow case; In the left field, monogram of Pergamon. In the right field, Asclepius' staff. ΔΗΜΕΑC in exergue. 12.18 g. Stumpf 28; Metcalf 114 (This coin, O2R/14). Ex NAC Auction 59, April 2011, Lot 799

 

Promagisterial Cistophori. Gaius Septimius as Proconsul in Asia. Polydeukes, magistrate. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. Tralles 56-55 BC. Serpent emerging from cista mystica; all within wreath / C·SEPTVMIVS·T·F·PROCOS. Two serpents entwined by bow case; In the left field, TPAΛ. In the right field, Pileus of Pollux. ΠOΛYΔEYKHΣ in exergue. 28 mm, 11,98 g. Stumpf 42; Metcalf 333 (This coin, O6/R32).

Promagisterial Cistophori. Titus Ampius Balbus as Proconsul in Asia. Theodoros and Aratos, magistrates. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. Ephesus, dated 58-57 BC. Serpent emerging from cista mystica; all within wreath / T·AM-PI·T·F·PRO-COS. Two serpents entwined by a tripod surmounted by cult statue of Artemis; In the left field, EΦΕ. In the right field, flaming torch. ΘΕΟΔWPOC - APATOC in exergue. 27 mm, 11.69 g. Stumpf 4; Metcalf 11 (This coin, O2/R11).

[kapphnwn]

Congrats. You actually got one of my coins which I had placed in  CNG E auction 540 Lot 326. This is my pic of that coin Photo by W. Hansen

Good to see that it remains in the community 

[zadie]

4 hours ago, kapphnwn said:

Congrats. You actually got one of my coins which I had placed in  CNG E auction 540 Lot 326. This is my pic of that coin Photo by W. Hansen

Good to see that it remains in the community 

Wow, that's great! Had no idea there were others on here who collected these coins. Your pictures are way better than CNG's in my opinion, the coin looks way better than I had expected

[expat]

Apologies for posting in this thread but it is germane to the subject. I have had my eye on a cistophoric but knowing little about them, could you cast an eye over this one and give some opinions on whether it would make a good first start.

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by expat

[zadie]

19 minutes ago, expat said:

Apologies for posting in this thread but it is germane to the subject. I have had my eye on a cistophoric but knowing nothing little about them, could you cast an eye over this one and give some opinions on whether it would make a good first start.

No apology needed. I personally do not collect these types of cistophori, often called "civic" types because they were issued by civic mints, in this case Pergamon. This is an extremely common coin, even when going by the monogram placement between the snakes. Depending on your budget I think you could do much better than this with a little patience. If I were you, I'd look towards the cistophori issued by the mints at Tralles and Ephesus. Tralles usually employs a lot of interesting control symbols which I think can easily transform a rather "dull" cistophor into something spectacular. At Ephesus, you'll often find dates on the coins, making them quite interesting as they are so easily tied to the time period in which they were struck.

Here are a few coins that sold recently-ish that I think are representative of what I mean.

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by zadie

[expat]

Thanks for your guidance. Those examples are certainly more interesting. I am in no hurry to purchase one and will carry on perusing. There are RR coins higher up my priority list but the twin serpent designs intrigue me.

[Marsyas Mike]

Spectacular pickups, @zadie.  Like @expat I am new to these, but recently got my first one.  If I have my attribution correct, this one may have been issued in Tralles for Mithridates during the First Mithrdatic War (Lucia Francesca Carbone article is where I got this - see below - this article provides a lot of useful information on these).  

Tralles, Lydia  Cistophoric Tetradrachm Magistrate Atta -  (c. 89-85 B.C.) See notes. Cista mystica with serpent, ivy wreath with fruits around / [T]PAΛ | ATTA, two serpents around bow case, Dionysos standing right holding thyrsos and grapes, panther at feet. (12.49 grams / 24 x 23 mm) eBay April 2023 

Here are some quotes from Professor Carbone's research: 

Lucia Francesca Carbone dates this issue (ATTA) to the First Mithridatic War c. 89-85 B.C., with 15 specimens in record per control mark and 5 obverse dies (see chart, p. 108)

"For what concern Tralles, the city was then under the tyranny of the sons of Cratippus, who were responsible for the massacre of the Roman residents.  The wealth of the city must have attracted a large number of negotiatores and also probably members of the societates publicanorum, whose exploitation provoked the violet reaction of the inhabitants of the city.  Cicero refers to the wealth of the city and to the good relationships between the city and Mithridates, as he recalls Laelius' statement that the king of Pontus would have been 'more anxious about adorning Tralles than plundering it.' The enhanced cistophoric production of Tralles could then also be explained with the necessity of financing a war, even if not necessarily on the Roman side.  The sudden increase in the cistophoric production of Ephesus and Tralles seems thus directly related to the Mithridatic Wars." (p. 103)

 "Given the already mentioned connection between Dionysus and Mithridates, the introduction of Dionysus as a control mark in the issues of ATTA and ΘEOΔ suggests a dating in the course of the First Mithridatic War.  This means that in those years the city produced an average of five (observed) the tetradrachm obverse dies (fractions excluded), a clear decrease from the extraordinary production of the year 90/89 BC, but still considerably higher than the pre-90 BC levels."  (p. 107)

"Late cistophoric production during the first Mithridatic War:  a comparison between the mints of Ephesus and Tralles" by Lucia Francesca Carbone  Colonial Geopolitics and Local Cultures in the Hellenistic and Roman East (3rd century BC - 3rd century AD), Hadrien Bru, Adrian G. Dumitru and Nicholas Sekunda editors (Archaeopress Publishing, 2021)

Retrieved from Google Books:

https://books.google.com/books?id=6h1YEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA105&dq=tralles+carbone&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4uo…#v=onepage&q=tralles carbone&f=false