Æ16 - Tiberius ΣΑΡΔΙΑΝΩΝ

Sardes was the administrative seat of its conventus — one of the judicial districts Rome imposed on the province of Asia — giving the city both the prestige and the practical necessity to produce a steady local bronze coinage under Tiberius. The city had been devastated by the earthquake of 17 AD, one of the worst to strike Asia Minor in the imperial period, and Tiberius responded with a ten-year remission of tribute and a personal contribution of ten million sesterces for reconstruction. That political goodwill almost certainly informed the continued use of the emperor's name on civic issues throughout his reign.