A few months ago I picked up this cistophor from the post office. Having been able to inspect it in detail I was extremely happy to have not wavered during bidding as it hammered very close to my max. For around a decade in the late-republic, Roman governors in the provinces of Asia and Cilicia began striking cistophoric tetradrachms in their own names. These coins are bilingual, having legends in both Latin and Greek. Coins in this category provide fascinating insight into provincial governance in the Roman Republic and were issued by some of the most iconic leaders of that era. The present coin was struck in the city of Tralles by Gaius Claudius Pulcher during his tenure as Proconsul of Asia in 55-53 BC. It was issued under the authority of Aristokles, who until quite recently was the only known mint magistrate to strike coins for Pulcher in Tralles. This suggests a relatively short issue, as magistrates would often rotate every 6 months. 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. PVLEHR PROCOS. Two serpents entwined by bow case; In the right field, raised hand holding olive branch. TPA to outer left. [AP]ICTOKΛHC in exergue. 24 mm, 12.09 g. Stumpf 56; Metcalf 350 (O11/R49) The obverse When studying cistophori form this time, it's hard to not notice the limited variety in obverse dies being used. This is perhaps most noticable with coins such as mine where the obverse is no longer readily indentifable. Why is this? We don't know. However, it contrasts quite sharply with the minting practices of the civic cistophori struck a decade earlier. It seems that at this time mint workers were less concerned with the state of the obverse and more focused on what was legible on the reverse. Die-progression of Metcalf O11 (The same obverse die as my coin) Clear strike. Cista is fully defined, some details on the highest points still visible. Wreath shows slight die wear, individual dots of each of the flowers have faded. Die wear is much more apparent. Cista is still fully defined. However, a large die break has evolved across the snake and towards the lower parts of the cista. Alongside the ever fading wreath, numerous die flaws have become apparent. The flaw mentioned previously has begun creeping its way ever lower beyond the area it occupied last. Snake is now barely visible emerging from the cista. A massive die flaw has developed on the higher points of the cista, die wear has become so severe that the initial engraving is starting to lose form. Additional die flaws have appeared since No. 4 was struck. This coin also shares a reverse die with my coin, thus chronologically placing my piece either in-between 4-5 or later. The reverse It should probably be quite obvious at this point that the source of my fascination with these coins lies with the reverse. This type specifically intrigues me on multiple levels. Let's breakdown of all of the relevant fields on this coin: In Latin. Name of the governing Roman promagistrate. C•PVLEHR (sic) In Greek. Name of the mint. In this case, TPA (short for Tralles). In Greek. Name of the presiding mint magistrate. In this case, APICTOKΛHC. Mint symbol. These are thought to have been chosen by the individual mint magistrate. Let's delve a little deeper into the Latin on this coin. The local Greek engraver has misspelt the name of Gaius Claudius Pulcher, the Roman proconsul in charge of the province, instead engraving his name as PVLEHR. Here's an example of this type with the name spelt correctly: Coin courtesy of the Kalevala Collection who reluctantly allowed me to use it as a reference There exists multiple spelling errors in the Latin on this issue. Coins with the "PVLEHR-error" make up about 30% of the known population, making it by far the most common variation. Other spelling variations include this fascinating coin: Struck with dies having been engraved with the spelling PROCONS instead of PROCOS. This is actually not as bad as the previous error. PROCOS being an abbreviation of PROCONSVL it works out just fine. Spelling aside, this type exhibits very interesting iconography. The raised hand holding an olive branch is a well known symbol for peace and reconciliation. Aristokles, the magistrate who presided over the Tralles mint for the striking of my coin chose to employ this symbol again almost a decade later, just before the start of Caesar's civil war, but this time for the propraetor Gaius Fannius: LYDIA, Tralles. C. Fannius. Praetor, 49/8 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 12.08 g, 12h). Cistophoric standard. Aristokles, magistrate. Cista mystica with serpent; all within ivy wreath / Hexastyle temple, surmounted by statue of Athena, between two serpents; to right, hand holding olive branch, B below; [C •] FAN P-ONT • PR above; ΑΡΙCΤΟΚΛΗ[C] (magistrate’s name) below. Stumpf 64 This symbol has been used on other provicial issues of the republican era, as seen here on this coin from Macedonia, struck shortly before it became a Roman province: MACEDON (Roman Protectorate), Republican period. Roman embassy. Circa 148-147 BC. AR Tetradrachm (31.5mm, 16.67 g, 3h). Amphipolis or Thessalonika mint. Diademed and draped bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver over shoulder, in boss of a Macedonian shield / Club; above, LEG and hand holding olive branch left; below, MAKEΔONΩN above monogram; all within oak wreath, thunderbolt to outer left. MacKay, Macedonian 11b (O2/R11 – this coin); AMNG III/2, p. 7, 45, pl. III, 5 (same dies); HGC 3.1, 1105; SNG Sarolglos 979 (same dies); Rhousopoulos 772 (same dies).
