During Pulcher's enitire tenure as pro consule in the province of Asia, there was only one single type known from the mint at Tralles. Until now! Promagisterial Cistophori. Gaius Claudius Pulcher as Proconsul of Asia. Demostratos, magistrate. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. Tralles mint, 55-53 BC. Serpent emerging from cista mystica; all within wreath / C•CLAVDIVS•AP•F•PVLCHER•PROCOS. Two serpents entwined by bow case; In the right field, Isis headdress resting on two grain ears and inverted crescent. TPAΛ to outer left. ΔΗΜΟΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ in exergue. 25 mm, 12.29 g. Stumpf -; Metcalf -, cf. 335 (same obverse die). Divergent from any of the bilingual cistophori issued in Asia, this coin boldly highlights who it was issued for, naming the governor by his full name: Gaius Claudius, son of Appius, Pulcher, proconsul. It also adds a previously unknown magistrate, Demostratos, to the corpus. Preceeding Pulcher as governor of Asia was Gaius Septimius, a senator of praetorian rank and a significant member of the conservative faction. Like Pulcher, Septimius minted only a limited number of types at the mint in Tralles. One of these, struck under the magistrate Diogenes (ΔIOΓENHΣ) shares the obverse die seen on the above coin of Pulcher. This is significant because it helps establish a chronology of emissions and places the coin as the first issued during Pulcher's tenure. After Demostratos followed a much larger emission under magistrate Aristokles, bearing the more conventional latin legend C•PVLCHER•PROCOS. Plates Metcalf 335 (Gaius Septimius) Promagisterial Cistophori. Gaius Claudius Pulcher as Proconsul of Asia. Aristokles, magistrate. AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm. Tralles mint, 55-53 BC. Serpent emerging from cista mystica; all within wreath / C•PVLCHER•PROCOS. Two serpents entwined by bow case; In the right field, raised hand holding olive branch. [TP]A to outer left. [APICTOKΛHC] in exergue. 25 mm, 12.4 g. Stumpf 55 Courtesy of the Kalevala Collection
When was this coin found and how did it get into the right hands to identify it as a new variety? That story would surely be very interesting for all here. Amazing to see that our knowledge of the ancient world continues to expand through recent numismatic discoveries.
The find date is unknown, as is the case with most ancient coins. However, the die-link issued in the name of Gaius Septimius was found in a hoard at some point before 1986. I first became aware of this coin during some casual browsing on Facebook last year. In one of the larger groups, someone had posted this very odd looking cistophor hoping to get help with its attribution. I started a dialogue with the owner but hit a dead end in trying to establish its provenance. It is amazing whenever new discoveries are made. Metcalf's expansive book on these coins was only released in 2017, yet new coins are still being found!
