Test cuts occur on staters from all mints in Cilicia Trachea except Aphrodisias (Table 1). Among Holmoi staters, however, they occur only in Group 2; among Pseudo-Kelenderis staters, they occur only on the single known specimen of Type 2. Test cuts usually occur singly, but a significant number of coins bear multiple cuts (see the Coin Corpus).

Mint	Coins in corpus	Coins with test cuts
		Count	Percentage
Anemourion	2	1	50.0%
Aphrodisias	4
Holmoi, Group 1	9
Holmoi, Group 2	9	4	44.4%
Kelenderis, Group 1	14	4	28.6%
Kelenderis, Group 2	248	10	4.0%
Kelenderis, Group 3	272	18	6.6%
Nagidos, Group 1	143	24	16.8%
Nagidos, Group 2	250	7	2.8%
Nagidos, Group 3	203	51	25.1%
Pseudo-Kelenderis	22	1	4.5%
Total	1176	120	10.2%

Table 1: Frequency of test cuts by mint and group

Either chronological sequence is possible. A coin may first have been tested for plating by means of a cut and, once verified as solid silver, subsequently countermarked. Conversely, a countermarked coin may have travelled to another region and been tested there. The countermarked fourrée Lederer 1931, 1c provides evidence for the latter sequence, since a countermark would not have been applied to a coin whose bronze core had already been exposed by a test cut.

Nevertheless, the relationship between test cuts and countermarks requires investigation. As Table 1 shows, only Kelenderis Groups 2 and 3 and Nagidos Groups 1 and 3 contain at least ten recorded coins with test cuts. Likewise, Table 2 in the section Countermarks shows that only Kelenderis Group 3 and Nagidos Group 3 contain at least ten recorded coins with countermarks. Thus, only these two groups provide sufficiently large samples.

Tables 2 and 3 show the frequencies of the four possible combinations of the presence or absence of test cuts and countermarks in these two groups. The contingency tables also include row and column percentages. For both Kelenderis and Nagidos, countermarks are relatively more frequent on coins with test cuts than on coins without them (22.2% versus 13.8% for Kelenderis; 33.3% versus 15.8% for Nagidos). Similarly, test cuts are relatively more frequent on coins with countermarks than on coins without them (10.3% versus 6.0% for Kelenderis; 41.5% versus 21.0% for Nagidos). This suggests a positive association between test cuts and countermarks, particularly for Nagidos. For Kelenderis, the correlation coefficient and Jaccard index are 0.060 and 0.075, respectively; for Nagidos, they are 0.190 and 0.227. The association is weak for Kelenderis, and Fisher’s exact test does not reject the null hypothesis of independence (p = 0.303). In contrast, for Nagidos, Fisher’s exact test rejects the null hypothesis (p = 0.009).

Test cuts	Countermarks
	Yes	No	Total	Yes	No	Total	Yes	No	Total
Yes	4	14	18	22.2%	77.8%	100.0%	10.3%	6.0%	6.6%
No	35	219	254	13.8%	86.2%	100.0%	89.7%	94.0%	93.4%
Total	39	233	272	14.3%	85.7%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table 2: Kelenderis, Group 3 – test cuts versus countermarks

Test cuts	Countermarks
	Yes	No	Total	Yes	No	Total	Yes	No	Total
Yes	17	34	51	33.3%	66.7%	100.0%	41.5%	21.0%	25.1%
No	24	128	152	15.8%	84.2%	100.0%	58.5%	79.0%	74.9%
Total	41	162	203	20.2%	79.8%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table 3: Nagidos, Group 3 – test cuts versus countermarks

The contingency tables (Tables 2 and 3) do not account for other characteristics of the coins, particularly their types. Conclusions based on these aggregated data may therefore be affected by the Yule–Simpson effect (also known as Simpson’s paradox). Tables 4 and 5 therefore break down Kelenderis Group 3 and Nagidos Group 3 by coin type. For Kelenderis Types 3.7 and 3.8, the data suggest a possible positive association, but countermarks are too few to justify a more detailed analysis at present. In contrast, for Nagidos Type 3.4, there are ten coins with test cuts and thirteen with countermarks. The contingency table for this type is shown in Table 6. Fisher’s exact test rejects the null hypothesis of independence (p < 0.001). The correlation coefficient and Jaccard index are also high, at 0.620 and 0.533, respectively.

Table 7 lists all Nagidos coins of Type 3.4 with a test cut or a countermark. For clarity, coins with both a test cut and a countermark are highlighted in light red, coins with only a test cut in light green, and coins with only a countermark in light yellow. With the exception of the coin from Fritz Rudolf Künker’s Auction 174 (27 September 2010, Lot 408), all coins bearing both a test cut and a countermark have the same short, deep cut, which does not pass through the entire thickness of the coin. The two coins with a test cut but no countermark (Lederer 1931, 46a and 51), by contrast, have different types of cuts. It therefore appears that all coins of Type 3.4 bearing both a test cut and a countermark, perhaps with the exception of the coin from Fritz Rudolf Künker’s Auction 174, underwent test cutting at the same location. Because these coins bear two different types of countermark—five bull-and-crescent countermarks and three eagle-and-trident countermarks—the cuts were probably applied after the countermarks, in a region different from that in which the countermarking took place.

This observation cannot, however, be generalised to other groups of coins in which test cuts and countermarks occur together. Each coin type, or differently defined group of coins, may have followed a different path through monetary circulation and therefore requires separate investigation.

Type	Coins in corpus	Coins with test cuts		Countermarked coins
		Count	Percentage	Count	Percentage
3.1	35			3	8.6%
3.2	18			1	5.6%
3.3	1			1	100.0%
3.5	5			2	40.0%
3.7	60	6	10.0%	2	3.3%
3.8	47	6	12.8%	4	8.5%
3.9	27	3	11.1%
3.12	9	1	11.1%
3.13	11			1	9.1%
3.14	5	1	20.0%	2	40.0%
3.15	16	1	6.2%	12	75.0%
3.16	16			11	68.8%
Total	272	18	6.6%	39	14.3%

Table 4: Kelenderis, Group 3 – test cuts and countermarked coins by coin type

Type	Coins in corpus	Coins with test cuts		Countermarked coins
		Count	Percentage	Count	Percentage
3.1	15	2	13.3%	5	33.3%
3.2	13	2	15.4%	8	61.5%
3.3	14	4	28.6%	11	78.6%
3.4	52	10	19.2%	13	25.0%
3.6	29	9	31.0%
3.7	46	17	37.0%	3	6.5%
3.8	11	4	36.4%	1	9.1%
3.9	4	3	75.0%
Total	203	51	25.1%	41	20.2%

Table 5: Nagidos, Group 3 – test cuts and countermarked coins by coin type

Test cuts	Countermarks
	Yes	No	Total	Yes	No	Total	Yes	No	Total
Yes	8	2	10	80.0%	20.0%	100.0%	61.5%	5.1%	19.2%
No	5	37	42	11.9%	88.1%	100.0%	38.5%	94.9%	80.8%
Total	13	39	52	25.0%	75.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table 6: Nagidos, Type 3.4 – test cuts versus countermarks

Type	Reference
3.4-	SNG Copenhagen 33, 183. Ex Münzen & Medaillen (Basel, Switzerland), 1948. Rev.: countermark (eagle standing r., upward trident before it).
3.4a	Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG, Auction 143 (6 October 2008), Lot 240 (acsearch.info URL). Rev.: countermark (bull walking r., crescent above).
	CGB Numismatics Paris, MONNAIES 36 (23 October 2008), Lot 200 (acsearch.info URL). Ex CGB Numismatics Paris, MONNAIES 31 (21 June 2007), Lot 77 (acsearch.info URL). Ex CGB Numismatics Paris, MONNAIES 25 (26 January 2006), Lot 107 (acsearch.info URL). Rev.: countermark (bull walking r., crescent above). Test cut(s).
	Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung, Auction 244 (6 March 2017), Lot 335 (acsearch.info URL). Ex A Munich art dealer, February 1981. Rev.: countermark (bull walking r., crescent above).
	Salon Numizmatyczny Mateusz Wójcicki, Auction 14 (28 September 2024), Lot 5006 (acsearch.info URL). Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Auction 124 (19 September 2023), Lot 245 (acsearch.info URL). Ex The New York Sale, Auction 40 (11 January 2017), Lot 1117 (acsearch.info URL). Ex Numismatic Fine Arts (Beverly Hills, USA), Mail Bid Sale (18 October 1990), Lot 370 (Gallica URL). Ex Numismatic Fine Arts (Beverly Hills, USA), Mail Bid Sale (15 January 1982), Lot 245 (Gallica URL). Rev.: countermark (bull walking r., crescent above). Test cut(s).
3.4b	Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger, Auction 256 (5 May 2008), Lot 323 (acsearch.info URL). Obv.: countermark (bull walking r., crescent above). Test cut(s).
3.4c	Lederer 1931, 47 = BMC 21, p. 114, 24 = The British Museum (London), museum number TC,p187.1.Nag Rev.: countermark (eagle standing r., upward trident before it). Test cut(s).
	Savoca Coins, 20th Silver Auction (1 January 2018), Lot 204 (acsearch.info URL). Rev.: countermark (bull walking r., crescent above). Test cut(s).
	Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG, Auction 174 (27 September 2010), Lot 408 (acsearch.info URL). Rev.: countermark (eagle standing r., upward trident before it). Test cut(s).
3.4g	The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California, USA (provenance: donated to The J. Paul Getty Museum in 1980 by Lily Tomlin, Santa Monica, California, USA), Object Number 80.NH.152.86 (Getty’s Collection Online URL). Obv.: countermark (unidentified).
	SNG Levante, 13 = Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG, eLive Auction 59 (25 March 2020), Lot 8108 (acsearch.info URL). Rev.: countermark (eagle standing r., upward trident before it). Test cut(s).
3.4h	Lederer 1931, 46a. Test cut(s).
3.4i	Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger, Auction 384 (2 November 2005), Lot 335 (acsearch.info URL). Ex Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger, Auction 380 (3 November 2004), Lot 576 (acsearch.info URL). Ex Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger, Auction 173 (19–22 February 1992), Lot 464. Rev.: countermark (bull walking r., crescent above). Test cut(s).
3.4n	SNG Copenhagen 33, 182. Ex Münzen & Medaillen (Basel, Switzerland), 1948. Obv.: countermark (bull walking r.).
3.4o	Lederer 1931, 51 = Classical Numismatic Group, Electronic Auction 560 (17 April 2024), Lot 162 (acsearch.info URL). Ex Naville Numismatics, Auction 73 (8 May 2022), Lot 155 (biddr.com URL). Test cut(s).

Table 7: Nagidos, Type 3.4 – coins with test cuts and countermarks