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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sulla80, post: 7813636, member: 99456&quot;][ATTACH=full]1342757[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3"><b>&quot;<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Library_-_Rome_-_Porta_Collina.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Library_-_Rome_-_Porta_Collina.jpg" rel="nofollow">Vedute antiche e moderne le più interessanti della città di Roma</a>&quot;</b>, Rome, 1820, published by V. Monaldini, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en" rel="nofollow">CC0</a>, via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Library_-_Rome_-_Porta_Collina.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Library_-_Rome_-_Porta_Collina.jpg" rel="nofollow">Wikimedia Commons</a></font></p><p><br /></p><p>This Cistophoric Tetradrachm is from a class of coins that are much maligned.&nbsp; One author has described it as &quot;the ugliest coin in the Greek series&quot; (Robinson,1954). Another calls it &quot;the most uninspiring of all Greek coin designs&quot; (Jenkins, 1990).&nbsp; Adding insult to injury, auction houses do not usually (perhaps never?) explain well the dating of these coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin has a date on it based on a &quot;Sullan Era&quot; - the auction listing of AD 133-67 could be much more specific.&nbsp; It is from Tralleis in Lydia, Asia Minor (modern Aydın, Turkey). It is a challenging coin to find, especially with good style and a fully visible year, <b>Γ</b>, the third year of a Sullan Era.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>This coin comes with a bit of history:</b> it was issued at the end of the First Mithridatic War, at the start of the Second Mithridatic War, 83/82 BCE, with Lucullus in Asia Minor, with Sulla headed home to retake Rome at the Battle of the Colline Gate on Kalends (1st) of November 82 BCE.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1342691[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Lydia, Tralleis,</b> 85-76 BC, AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm, dated Sullan Era, third year (83/82 BCE), Ptol- (ΠTOΛ), magistrate.</p><p><b>Obv:</b> Cista mystica with serpent; all within ivy wreath</p><p><b>Rev: </b>Bow case with serpents; (Γ == third year) to left, ΠTOΛ above; to right, Dionysos standing right, holding thyrsos and two flowers.</p><p><br /></p><p>As always, comments, corrections and additional information are all appreciated.&nbsp; For anyone interested in references, additional coins and longer description of the context, see my notes pages: <a href="https://www.sullacoins.com/post/a-sullan-era-tetradrachm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.sullacoins.com/post/a-sullan-era-tetradrachm" rel="nofollow">A &quot;Sullan Era&quot; Tetradrachm</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Post your Cistophoric Tetradrachms, coins with cryptic coded dates, or anything else that you find interesting or entertaining.</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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