Æ16 - Domitian ΚΙΛΒΙΑ (ΩΝ) ΤΩΝ ΑΝΩ

The Cilbiani Superiores were one of several small Lydian communities granted the right to strike bronze under Roman provincial administration, distinguished from their neighbors — the Cilbiani Inferiores — by the directional qualifier in their ethnic legend. The two communities struck coins of near-identical types in the same period, a situation that has caused persistent attribution headaches for collectors and cataloguers alike.

Under Domitian, provincial bronze of this scale functioned as small-change currency for local markets in the Hermus valley hinterland, far removed from the major civic mints at Ephesus and Smyrna.