Æ25 - Elagabalus ΙΕΡΑΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Hierapolis in Phrygia earned the title Neokoros — temple warden — through the imperial cult, a designation that granted the city prestige and, critically, the right to strike bronze coinage in its own name. Under Elagabalus, whose four-year reign was consumed by religious controversy centered on his promotion of the Syrian sun god Elagabal above Rome's traditional pantheon, provincial mints across the East continued issuing civic bronzes with remarkable autonomy. The Conventus of Cibyra, to which Hierapolis belonged, administered a cluster of Phrygian communities whose coinage varied sharply in output and survival rates.

VI#5451 is sparsely documented in the major die studies, suggesting a limited original striking.