Æ23 - Antoninus Pius ΙΕΡΑϹ ΕΠΙΔΑΥΡοΥ

Epidaurus retained the right to strike civic bronze under Roman rule largely because of its sanctuary of Asklepios, one of the ancient world's most visited healing centers. The city's coins functioned partly as pilgrimage currency — handled by the sick, the hopeful, and the professional physicians who trained there. That the sanctuary remained politically useful to Rome meant Epidaurus kept its minting privileges well into the imperial period, an arrangement most comparably sized Achaean cities did not enjoy.