Æ22 - Philip I ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ

Metropolis was a minor Ionian city that punched above its weight in the third century by securing the title of metropolis — the right to call itself the leading city of a regional grouping — and promptly emblazoned that claim on its coinage. The legend ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ is the civic assertion in bronze form. Philip I's reign, cut short at the Battle of Verona in 249 when his army defected to Decius, produced a scattered provincial output across the eastern conventus system, and issues from smaller Ionian mints like this one were typically struck in short runs for local religious festivals or civic ceremonies rather than broad circulation.