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.
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.