Æ25 - Septimius Severus ΕΠ ϹΤΡ Κ ΑΡΙϹΤΟΦΑΝΟΥϹ, ϹΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ

Smyrna was among the most competitive cities in Roman Asia for the title of "First City," a rivalry it pressed aggressively through coin issues invoking civic prestige. The magistrate named in this legend, Aristophanes, served as strategos — a civic office that by the Severan period carried primarily ceremonial and administrative weight rather than military command. His name appearing on bronze coinage was a deliberate act of civic self-promotion as much as administrative record-keeping.

Provincial bronzes of Smyrna under Septimius Severus are well-attested but individual magistrate issues can be difficult to locate in complete die studies, with V.2 #1488 representing one of the less frequently traded references in the Smyrnaean sequence.