Æ23 - Severus Alexander ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ ΤΡΑΛΛΙΑΝΩΝ (retrograde)

Tralles, a prosperous city in Lydia, held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — and advertised it aggressively on civic coinage throughout the third century. The retrograde inscription on this type is not a blunder but almost certainly a deliberate die-cutter's idiosyncrasy, a phenomenon documented across several Lydian mints where individual engravers worked with apparent autonomy from any central review. Retrograde legends on otherwise standard civic bronzes turn up just frequently enough in this region to suggest habit rather than accident.