Æ20 - Vespasian ΕΦΕΣΙΩΝ

Ephesus was the seat of the Roman proconsul governing Asia, making it the natural locus for civic bronze issues throughout the Flavian period. Vespasian's accession in 69 AD ended a year of catastrophic civil war — four emperors in twelve months — and the cities of Asia were quick to realign their local coinage with the new dynasty. This issue belongs to that wave of civic reassertion, produced under the authority of the koinon rather than the imperial mint at Rome.