Æ23 - Valerian and Gallienus ΕΠ ΦΟΙΒΟΥ ΙΟΥ(Λ) ΓΟΡΔΗΝΩΝ

Iulia Gordus — a minor Lydian city whose coinage output peaked precisely during the joint reign of Valerian I and his son Gallienus, before the Roman provincial bronze series collapsed under the pressure of the third-century crisis. The magistrate named in the obverse legend, Phoebus Julius, is known from a small cluster of issues from this city; his name appearing in the genitive construction ΕΠΙ ΦΟΙΒΟΥ suggests he held the office of strategos or equivalent civic authority responsible for authorizing the mint run.