Tabala was a minor Lydian city of limited political weight, and its civic bronze issues under Marcus Aurelius are accordingly scarce — small mints in the interior of the province struck opportunistically rather than on any fixed schedule, which is why so few types from this city survive in any quantity. The reign dates narrow this piece to the period before Lucius Verus died in 169, when both emperors held joint authority and civic mints across Asia Minor briefly flourished under the relative stability of the early Antonine co-principate.
Tabala was a minor Lydian city of limited political weight, and its civic bronze issues under Marcus Aurelius are accordingly scarce — small mints in the interior of the province struck opportunistically rather than on any fixed schedule, which is why so few types from this city survive in any quantity. The reign dates narrow this piece to the period before Lucius Verus died in 169, when both emperors held joint authority and civic mints across Asia Minor briefly flourished under the relative stability of the early Antonine co-principate.