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Æ25 - Marcus Aurelius ΚΥΖΙΚΗΝ? ΝΕΩΚΟΡ (Ζ shaped as エ)
| Issuer | Cyzicus (Conventus of Cyzicus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 161-169 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ΦΑΥϹΤΕΙΝΑ ϹΕΒΑϹΤΗ |
| Reverse description | Demeter standing in a biga drawn by two coiling serpents, moving to the right, holding a long torch in each hand as attributes of her chthonic and agrarian cult. The serpents, sacred to Demeter, are rendered with sinuous, intertwining bodies beneath the chariot. The reverse type alludes to the myth of Demeter's search for Persephone and reflects the strong local cult veneration at Cyzicus. A Greek legend in the field records the city's neokorate status, with a notable variant Ζ character shaped in the form of エ. |
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| Additional information |
Cyzicus held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — and competed fiercely with rival cities like Pergamon and Smyrna for additional neokoriate grants throughout the second century. The peculiar rendering of the Z in ΝΕΩΚΟΡ as a form resembling the Japanese katakana エ is a local die-cutter's idiosyncrasy, not a copying error, and helps localize this piece to a specific workshop within the city's output under Marcus Aurelius. Such epigraphic oddities occasionally allow attributions that the legends alone, read straight, would not support.