Æ22 - Septimius Severus ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕΩΝ

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.