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Æ Tessera
| Issuer | Ephesus |
|---|---|
| Year | 1-300 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Bee depicted facing, with finely rendered segmented body, outstretched wings, and detailed antennae, presented in high relief at the center of the field. The insect is shown from above in a naturalistic style characteristic of Ephesian civic coinage, where the bee served as the principal civic emblem. A continuous Greek legend surrounds the central device within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A stag kneeling to the left with its head turned back to the right, rendered in fine relief upon a ground line, a design long associated with Ephesian civic iconography. The civic monogram Є flanks the stag to the left and Φ to the right, serving as abbreviations for ЄΦЄCΙΩΝ (Ephesus). The legend CKOΠI appears in the exergue below the ground line, enclosed within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Tesserae of this type from Ephesus functioned primarily as tokens — admission to public baths, distributions of grain or oil during civic benefactions, or entry to theatrical events — rather than as currency in any strict sense. The city's civic administration issued them in enormous variety, which is why the same basic type turns up across three major reference collections with slightly differing attributions. Pinning down a precise civic magistrate or issuing occasion is rarely possible, and scholars have largely stopped trying.