Æ26 - Valerian and Gallienus ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟ/ΛΕΙΤΩΝ / ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΙΩΝΙΑ

Metropolis in Ionia was a minor city that punched above its weight in the provincial coinage of Asia Minor by advertising its title as one of the metropoleis of Ionia — a honorific status cities competed for aggressively under Roman administration, sometimes litigating the claim before the emperor himself. The legend ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟ/ΛΕΙΤΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΙΩΝΙΑ is the city staking that claim in bronze. This joint issue for Valerian and Gallienus dates to the co-regency beginning in 253, before Valerian's capture by Shapur I at Edessa effectively ended centralized Roman authority in the East and shut down much of the provincial civic mint activity that had flourished under the Severans.