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Æ25 - Elagabalus ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡ ΑΙΛ ΑΠΟΛΩΝΙΟΥ (sic) ϹΜΥΡΝ
| Issuer | Smyrna (Conventus of Smyrna) |
|---|---|
| Year | 218-222 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of the personified Roman Senate (Senatus) facing right, veiled and wearing drapery over the left shoulder in the manner characteristic of provincial civic coinage. The legend ΙΕΡΑ ϹΥΝΚΛΗΤΟϹ (Sacred Senate) runs around the periphery. The coin is heavily patinated with significant surface corrosion, partially obscuring the fine detail of the bust. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ΙΕΡΑ ϹΥΝΚΛΗΤΟϹ (Translation: Sacred Senate) |
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| Additional information |
Smyrna was among the most aggressive cities in the Greek East when it came to courting imperial favor, and Elagabalus — whatever Rome thought of him — was a useful vehicle for that competition. The magistrate name in the legend, rendered here with the non-standard spelling ΑΠΟΛΩΝΙΟΥ rather than the expected ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΟΥ, is not a die-cutter's casual error but reflects a genuine epichoric variation documented across a handful of Smyrnaean bronzes from this reign. Single-lambda spellings of the name appear inconsistently across the city's civic coinage, suggesting more than one workshop operating without strict orthographic oversight.