Mysia, Pergamon Cistophoric Tetradrachm Ca. 166-67 BC (No reserve price)

Mysia, Pergamon.
Ca. 166-67 BC.
Cistophoric Tetradrachm (Silver, 26 mm, 11.58 g).

Obv: Cista mystica with half-open lid, from which a serpent issues to left. All within an ivy wreath with leaves and berries.
Rev: Two serpents coiled around a bow case, their heads rising above it. ΠΕΡΓ monogram of Pergamon to left. Magistrates' initials or monograms above and a symbol to right.

Reference: Kleiner, Hoard Evidence and the Late Cistophori of Pergamum, ANSMN 23 (1978).

The cistophoros was created at Pergamon as the silver coinage of the Attalid kingdom. Tariffed at four drachms but weighing only about three Attic drachms, it circulated within a closed monetary system across Attalid territory. Its types joined the cista mystica of Dionysos with the bow case of Herakles, the two gods from whom the Attalids claimed descent. After the kingdom was bequeathed to Rome, the Romans kept striking cistophori, later with new types, until Septimius Severus.

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