Smyrna held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — multiple times, and the ΝΕ in this coin's legend records that status explicitly. The abbreviation ΕΠ ΤΕΡΤΙΟΥ ΑϹΙ identifies the magistrate Tertius as asiarch during Gordian III's reign, a civic office tied to the administration of the provincial imperial cult across Asia. Tertius appears across several Smyrnaean issues of this period, allowing die-study groupings that help sequence the city's output through the 238–244 window.
Smyrna held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — multiple times, and the ΝΕ in this coin's legend records that status explicitly. The abbreviation ΕΠ ΤΕΡΤΙΟΥ ΑϹΙ identifies the magistrate Tertius as asiarch during Gordian III's reign, a civic office tied to the administration of the provincial imperial cult across Asia. Tertius appears across several Smyrnaean issues of this period, allowing die-study groupings that help sequence the city's output through the 238–244 window.