Classical Numismatics Discussion - Members' Coin Gallery
  Welcome Guest. Please login or register. Share Your Collection With Your Friends And With The World!!! A FREE Service Provided By Forum Ancient Coins No Limit To The Number Of Coins You Can Add - More Is Better!!! Is Your Coin The Best Of Type? Add It And Compete For The Title Have You Visited An Ancient Site - Please Share Your Photos!!! Use The Members' Coin Gallery As A Reference To Identify Your Coins Please Visit Our Shop And Find A Coin To Add To Your Gallery Today!!!

Member Collections | Members' Gallery Home | Login | Album list | Last uploads | Last comments | Most viewed | Top rated | My Favorites | Search
Home > Coin Collecting Theme Galleries > Best of Type!
GREEK, Mysia, Pergamon, Cistophoric Tetradrachm
Greece, Mysia, Pergamon, Cistophoric Tetradrachm, 12.57g, 28mm, 166-67 BC, issued 76 BC

Obv: Cista Mystica containing serpent escaping, all within an ivy wreath.

Rev: Bow case between 2 serpents. Pergamon monogram at left. Snake entwined Asklepian staff at right. "AP" above.

Near the West coast of present day Turkey, Pergamon, in the province of Mysia, was an insignificant city under the Persian empire. After Alexander the Great died, his bodyguard "Lysimachus" was given Thrace and north western Asia. After the battle of Ipsus "Lysimachus" secured Alexander's treasury worth over 25,000 talents. Pergamon was located in a natural fortress and "Lysimachus" strengthened the city and deposited his Asian treasure (9000 talents) in the city along with a military guard under his loyal follower "Philetaerus". "Lysimachus" died in 281 BC and Pergamon officially fell under Seulcid control. "Philetaerus" played the part of a faithful governor, but all the time he used the money to strengthen the city's defenses and founded the Attalid dynasty of the kingdom of "Pergamon". The kingdom successfully withstood attempts by Seulicid rulers to regain control. In 190 BC, Pergamon assisted the Romans to defeat Antiochus III of Syria. At this time, Rome had no territorial desires in Asia and they gave all the territories to Pergamon. Pergamon prospered and soon ranked as one of the major Greek cultural centers. Pergamon's library ranked second only to the library of Alexandria. But, to Rome's surprize the Pergamon King Attalus III (138 - 133 BC) gave the kingdom to Rome upon his death in 133 BC. During the confusion a certain "Aristonicus" seized the throne and changed his name to "Eumenes III". This forced the Romans to intervene and they seized the kingdom and made it the capital of the Roman province of Asia. 

Pergamon first issued this coin under Eumenes II, who likely required a new currency after the treaty with Apameia in 188 BC expanded his economic and political territory. The new coinage is the first time a king’s portrait and name are omitted from Hellenistic currency. The cistophori (basket bearers) were the chief currency in Asia Minor for about 300 years. Originally introduced by king Eumenes II of Pergamon around 166 BCE, the obverse of these coins shows a cista mystica, i.e., a woven basket containing the sacred objects of a mystery cult. In the case of the cistophori, the basket contains snakes associated with the worship of Dionysus (Bacchus), the Greek god of wine and ecstasy. In the Dionysian mysteries a serpent, representing the god, was carried in a box called a cista on a bed of vine leaves. This may be the Cista mentioned by Clement of Alexandria which was exhibited as containing the phallus of Dionysus.  The depiction on this famous type is what gives the coin its name - the Cistophorus. It was one of the most widely minted coin types in the ancient world. It seems that the Asian Greek states in what is now Turkey minted this coin in unison from around 150 BC. Some scholars believe this was undertaken for the common good, so traders could be confident in a coin of uniform weight and value, representing the collective wealth of Asian Greekdom. 

The ivy wreath and the thyrsos staff on the reverse are also references to this god whom the Attalid kings of Pergamon claimed as their ancestor. The bow case (gorytos) on the reverse points to Herakles, the father of Telephos, the legendary founder and first king of Pergamon. Taken together, the obverse and reverse scenes appear to capture allegorical acts one and two of the Dionysian Cista fertility mythology in progress.

When the last Attalid king, Attalos III, died in 133 BCE, he left his entire kingdom to the Roman people. At the same time, his last will declared Pergamon and the other important cities of his realm "free cities", which meant that they did not have to pay tribute to Rome. Not surprisingly, Pergamon and the other cities continued to mint cistophori in grateful tribute to their former ruler. The city of Pergamum continued issue of cistophoric tetradrachm for eight decades after the city was willed to Rome in 133 BC.

1 cistophor equaled 3 Attic drachms, the currency of Athens, which had become the world's key currency during the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Later, 1 cistophor was equivalent to 3 Roman denarii. Because they were so easy to convert into the key currencies, 16 Anatolian towns soon minted cistophors, forming a kind of monetary union. When Pergamum became Roman about 133 BC, the Romans continued to mint cistophors.

Under the Attalids, Pergamon was not only the capital of an empire that soon stretched over most of Asia Minor, but also the seat of the second most famous library of the ancient world with more than 200,000 book rolls. When the kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, whose capital, Alexandria, boasted the only comparable library, cut off Pergamene access to papyrus, the most important writing material, the Pergamenes invented pergamentum, i.e., parchment or vellum made from animal skins.

Today, the city is called Bergama and belongs to Turkey.

GREEK, Mysia, Pergamon, Cistophoric Tetradrachm

Greece, Mysia, Pergamon, Cistophoric Tetradrachm, 12.57g, 28mm, 166-67 BC, issued 76 BC

Obv: Cista Mystica containing serpent escaping, all within an ivy wreath.

Rev: Bow case between 2 serpents. Pergamon monogram at left. Snake entwined Asklepian staff at right. "AP" above.

Near the West coast of present day Turkey, Pergamon, in the province of Mysia, was an insignificant city under the Persian empire. After Alexander the Great died, his bodyguard "Lysimachus" was given Thrace and north western Asia. After the battle of Ipsus "Lysimachus" secured Alexander's treasury worth over 25,000 talents. Pergamon was located in a natural fortress and "Lysimachus" strengthened the city and deposited his Asian treasure (9000 talents) in the city along with a military guard under his loyal follower "Philetaerus". "Lysimachus" died in 281 BC and Pergamon officially fell under Seulcid control. "Philetaerus" played the part of a faithful governor, but all the time he used the money to strengthen the city's defenses and founded the Attalid dynasty of the kingdom of "Pergamon". The kingdom successfully withstood attempts by Seulicid rulers to regain control. In 190 BC, Pergamon assisted the Romans to defeat Antiochus III of Syria. At this time, Rome had no territorial desires in Asia and they gave all the territories to Pergamon. Pergamon prospered and soon ranked as one of the major Greek cultural centers. Pergamon's library ranked second only to the library of Alexandria. But, to Rome's surprize the Pergamon King Attalus III (138 - 133 BC) gave the kingdom to Rome upon his death in 133 BC. During the confusion a certain "Aristonicus" seized the throne and changed his name to "Eumenes III". This forced the Romans to intervene and they seized the kingdom and made it the capital of the Roman province of Asia.

Pergamon first issued this coin under Eumenes II, who likely required a new currency after the treaty with Apameia in 188 BC expanded his economic and political territory. The new coinage is the first time a king’s portrait and name are omitted from Hellenistic currency. The cistophori (basket bearers) were the chief currency in Asia Minor for about 300 years. Originally introduced by king Eumenes II of Pergamon around 166 BCE, the obverse of these coins shows a cista mystica, i.e., a woven basket containing the sacred objects of a mystery cult. In the case of the cistophori, the basket contains snakes associated with the worship of Dionysus (Bacchus), the Greek god of wine and ecstasy. In the Dionysian mysteries a serpent, representing the god, was carried in a box called a cista on a bed of vine leaves. This may be the Cista mentioned by Clement of Alexandria which was exhibited as containing the phallus of Dionysus. The depiction on this famous type is what gives the coin its name - the Cistophorus. It was one of the most widely minted coin types in the ancient world. It seems that the Asian Greek states in what is now Turkey minted this coin in unison from around 150 BC. Some scholars believe this was undertaken for the common good, so traders could be confident in a coin of uniform weight and value, representing the collective wealth of Asian Greekdom.

The ivy wreath and the thyrsos staff on the reverse are also references to this god whom the Attalid kings of Pergamon claimed as their ancestor. The bow case (gorytos) on the reverse points to Herakles, the father of Telephos, the legendary founder and first king of Pergamon. Taken together, the obverse and reverse scenes appear to capture allegorical acts one and two of the Dionysian Cista fertility mythology in progress.

When the last Attalid king, Attalos III, died in 133 BCE, he left his entire kingdom to the Roman people. At the same time, his last will declared Pergamon and the other important cities of his realm "free cities", which meant that they did not have to pay tribute to Rome. Not surprisingly, Pergamon and the other cities continued to mint cistophori in grateful tribute to their former ruler. The city of Pergamum continued issue of cistophoric tetradrachm for eight decades after the city was willed to Rome in 133 BC.

1 cistophor equaled 3 Attic drachms, the currency of Athens, which had become the world's key currency during the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Later, 1 cistophor was equivalent to 3 Roman denarii. Because they were so easy to convert into the key currencies, 16 Anatolian towns soon minted cistophors, forming a kind of monetary union. When Pergamum became Roman about 133 BC, the Romans continued to mint cistophors.

Under the Attalids, Pergamon was not only the capital of an empire that soon stretched over most of Asia Minor, but also the seat of the second most famous library of the ancient world with more than 200,000 book rolls. When the kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, whose capital, Alexandria, boasted the only comparable library, cut off Pergamene access to papyrus, the most important writing material, the Pergamenes invented pergamentum, i.e., parchment or vellum made from animal skins.

Today, the city is called Bergama and belongs to Turkey.

File information
Filename:Greece,_Mysia,_Pergamum,_Cistophoric_Tetradrachm,_12_57g,_28mm,_166-67_BC,_issued_76_BC.jpg
Album name:mitresh / Best of Type!
Filesize:646 KiB
Date added:Feb 19, 2014
Dimensions:1797 x 880 pixels
Displayed:94 times
URL:https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=106667
Favorites:Add to Favorites
Add your comment
Anonymous comments are not allowed here. Log in to post your comment
All coins are guaranteed for eternity
Forum Ancient Coins
PO BOX 1316
MOREHEAD CITY NC 28557


252-497-2724
customerservice@forumancientcoins.com
Facebook   Instagram   Pintrest   Twitter