Æ20 - Antoninus Pius ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ

Ephesus held the title of metropolis of Asia and jealously guarded its status as the premier city of the province throughout the Antonine period. The civic bronze coinage struck under Antoninus Pius was partly a function of that rivalry — Smyrna and Pergamon both pressed competing claims to Roman favor, and local coin issues served as one of the few vehicles through which a city could assert its prestige without direct petition to Rome.

The conventus system meant Ephesus also served as a judicial center, drawing litigants and officials from across the region twice yearly — a captive audience for locally-struck bronze.