Æ23 - Septimius Severus COL IVL CONC AVG APAM D D

Apamea in Bithynia held the status of a Roman colony — Colonia Iulia Concordia Augusta Apamea — a distinction that shaped its civic coinage throughout the Severan period. The abbreviation COL IVL CONC AVG encodes that full colonial title, earned under Caesar or Augustus and jealously retained as a mark of privilege. The D D notation, standing for *decreto decurionum*, confirms the issue was authorized by the local town council rather than struck on imperial initiative.

Provincial bronzes of this type circulated almost entirely within their issuing city and its immediate hinterland.