PAMPHYLIA, Side. Circa 205-100 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28mm, 16.84 g, 12h). De–, magistrate. Helmeted head of Athena right; c/m: bow-in-bowcase, AΠA to left, all within incuse circle / Nike advancing left, holding wreath; pomegranate and ΔH to left. Seyrig, Side 9; SNG BN 682–3. Lightly toned, struck with worn dies. Coin: VF; countermark: Good VF.
Bow and bowcase counterstamps on Alexander-type and Side tetradrachms, with different legends, have been attributed to cities within the the Kingdom of Pergamon (Pergamon, Ephesos, Tralles, Sardes, Synnada, Apameia, Laodiceia, Stratonikeia, Adramytion, and Sale). Price has linked these counterstamps to the introduction of the cistophoric coinage in the 180s BC. The application of these counterstamps permitted the circulation of Attic weight coins in the years following the reform. See R. Bauslaugh, "Cistophoric Countermarks and the Monetary System of Eumenes II" in NC 1990.