Catalog
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| Issuer | Philadelphia (Conventus of Sardis) |
|---|---|
| Year | 193-211 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 22 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Apollo standing left in a frontal pose, his weight shifted in a relaxed contrapposto stance, holding a plectrum in his extended right hand and a lyre in his left. To the left of the figure stands a tripod entwined by a serpent, a prominent symbol of the Apolline cult. The legend ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕΩΝ curves around the design in Greek script, indicating civic attribution to the Philadelphians. The composition reflects standard Lydian provincial iconography associated with the local veneration of Apollo. |
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| Additional information |
Philadelphia in Lydia — modern Alaşehir in western Turkey — was one of the last cities in Asia Minor to fall to Tamerlane in 1402, but under Severus it was a prosperous conventus center with a long tradition of civic coinage. The city had earned particular favor from Rome for its loyalty during the civil conflicts of the late Republic, and local bronze issues like this one circulated as small-denomination civic currency entirely independent of imperial minting policy. The Sardis conventus administered a broad swath of Lydian communities, each striking under their own civic authority.