Æ18 - Marcus Aurelius ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ (retrograde)

The retrograde legend ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΩΝ on this issue is not a celator's error but reflects a documented engraving convention occasionally found among Carian civic bronzes, where the die was cut as a mirror image and the mistake — if it can be called that — went uncorrected through the entire emission. Antioch on the Maeander was a small enough mint that quality control was informal at best. The city struck under Marcus Aurelius as co-emperor with Lucius Verus, the joint reign beginning in 161 following Antoninus Pius's death.