Tetradrachm Cistophoric type

Adramyttion, a coastal city in Mysia, began striking cistophoric tetradrachms following Rome's reorganization of the former Attalid kingdom into the province of Asia after 133 BC. The cistophoric standard itself had originated at Pergamon around 175 BC as a deliberately insular monetary system — heavier than the Attic standard but deliberately excluded from broader Greek trade circuits, keeping silver wealth circulating within Attalid territory. Rome inherited and perpetuated that logic, finding the regional type administratively convenient for tax collection.

Adramyttion's issues are among the less frequently encountered civic cistophori, produced over a span that ended as Roman magistrate-signed issues began displacing civic autonomy coinage across the province.