Æ21 - Augustus EX D D

Sinope held a peculiar status among Pontic cities — refounded as a Roman colony by Julius Caesar in 45 BC, it was one of the few settlements in the region where Roman civic institutions took genuine root. The abbreviation EX D D, ex decreto decurionum, confirms this coin was issued by formal vote of the local senate, a procedural distinction that mattered to colonists who took their Roman identity seriously. Augustus was in the eastern provinces between 22 and 19 BC, and renewed administrative attention to Pontic colonies likely prompted a fresh wave of civic bronze issues in the years that followed.