Æ21 - Septimius Severus ΕΠΙ ΔΟΚΙΜΟΥ Α

Dokimos — the magistrate named in the inscription ΕΠΙ ΔΟΚΙΜΟΥ — served as the local authority overseeing this issue in Philadelphia during the reign of Septimius Severus, a period when civic bronze coinage in the conventus of Sardis expanded sharply as cities competed for imperial favor following the chaos of 193 AD's civil wars. Philadelphia had backed the winning side, and local elites used coinage as one visible instrument of that loyalty.