Cistophorus - Nerva COM ASI

The cistophorus was a regional denomination tied to the western provinces of Asia Minor, worth three denarii but never fully integrated into the standard imperial tariff system. Nerva's Asian cistophori were struck at the provincial level under the COM ASI authority — the koinon of Asia — rather than at Rome, making them administratively distinct from his metropolitan silver. Nerva died in January 98, less than two years into his reign, which compresses the entire cistophoric output of his principate into an unusually narrow window.