Æ23 - Valerian and Gallienus COL AVG TROAD

Alexandria Troas was a Roman colony — hence the COL designation — founded by Antigonus and refounded by Lysimachus before Augustus formalized its colonial status, granting it the right to issue its own bronze coinage. That privilege persisted remarkably late into the imperial period. The joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, which began in 253 following the chaos after Aemilianus's brief usurpation, produced a concentrated burst of colonial bronze across Asia Minor as the central government struggled to maintain fiscal coherence during simultaneous barbarian incursions on multiple frontiers.

The "var." notation against SNG Copenhagen 161 likely reflects a die combination or control mark difference — Bellinger's corpus for this city remains the more granular reference for distinguishing among the numerous emissions of this period.