Æ26 - Valerian and Gallienus ϹΑΜΙΩΝ

Samos sat within the Milesian conventus — the Roman judicial circuit centered on Miletus — and continued striking civic bronze well into the joint reign of Valerian I and Gallienus, even as the empire fractured under the pressure of simultaneous barbarian incursions and the catastrophic capture of Valerian by Shapur I in 260 AD. That capture effectively ended the joint reign and, with it, most provincial civic coinage of this type. Pieces attributable to the later end of this window are accordingly scarcer than their early-reign counterparts.