Æ18 - Septimius Severus ΕΠΙ ΓΑΙΟΥ Α ΑΡΧ ΒΑΓΗΝΩΝ

Bagis was a minor Lydian city whose civic coinage depended entirely on the prestige of a local magistrate willing to fund and authorize an issue — the ΕΠΙ ΓΑΙΟΥ formula naming Gaios as that magistrate. These small civic bronzes of the Sardis conventus were not struck by any central authority but issued at the city's own initiative, a privilege Rome extended to loyal provincial communities and occasionally used as a quiet measure of a city's standing within its district.

The reign of Septimius Severus saw a sharp uptick in such provincial issues across Asia Minor, partly driven by the disruptions of the civil wars of 193–197 that put Roman central coinage under pressure.