Æ26 - Gallienus (sole reign) (ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Α ΑϹΙΑϹ)

Ephesus held the title of "First of Asia" fiercely and used coinage to advertise the fact. The ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Α ΑϹΙΑϹ legend — asserting Ephesus as first among the cities of the Asian conventus — was a point of genuine civic rivalry, contested at intervals by Smyrna and Pergamon before Roman arbitration periodically reaffirmed Ephesian primacy. Gallienus's sole reign, after his father Valerian was captured by Shapur I in 260, saw provincial mints operating with unusual autonomy as the central Roman administration absorbed the shock of that unprecedented disaster.