Æ20 - Domitian ΣΑΜΙΩΝ

Samos issued coins under its own civic authority throughout the imperial period, a privilege that survived repeated administrative reshufflings of the Aegean conventus system. Under Domitian, the island retained enough municipal prestige to strike in the emperor's name — though the relationship between Samos and Rome was never straightforward, the island having backed the wrong side more than once during the late Republican civil wars.

The Conventus of Miletus, to which Samos was assigned, processed legal and administrative business for a sprawling coastal and island district, and civic bronze issues like this one functioned almost exclusively in local exchange.