Æ22 - Severus Alexander ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ

Metropolis in Ionia was a minor city whose civic coinage under Severus Alexander reflects the intense competition among Asian Greek cities for imperial favor during this period. The right to strike bronze — even at modest module — was a privilege tied to the city's status within the Ephesus conventus, the administrative district through which Rome managed judicial and civic affairs across the region. Metropolis was never a major player; its coinage corpus is thin, and VI#4838 is among the scarcer documented types from this mint.