Æ20 - Augustus ΕΠΙ ΛΑΚΩΝΟϹ

The magistrate name ΛΑΚΩΝ (Lakon) appearing in the inscription places this issue within Sparta's autonomous civic coinage under Roman oversight — a privilege Augustus extended selectively to cities with strong historical identities, and one Sparta traded on aggressively, still marketing itself to Roman tourists as a living museum of Lacedaemonian austerity well into the imperial period. The city had backed Antony at Actium, which makes any Augustan-era Spartan bronze a product of a carefully negotiated rehabilitation.