Æ26 - Severus Alexander ϹΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ Γ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Smyrna held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — three times by the reign of Severus Alexander, a distinction fiercely competed for among the cities of Asia Minor and occasionally stripped by Rome as political punishment. The Γ (gamma) in the legend signals this third-held honor, which Smyrna had accumulated through persistent lobbying of successive emperors and considerable expenditure on imperial cult infrastructure.

Local bronze of this period circulated almost entirely within the issuing city and its immediate hinterland, functioning as small-denomination civic currency in a monetary system where Roman imperial coinage dominated larger transactions.