Æ27 - Valerian and Gallienus ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Γ ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ

Ephesus held the title of neokoros — temple warden to the imperial cult — multiple times over, and the Γ (gamma) designation here marks it as a three-time honoree, a status the city lobbied for aggressively and advertised on its coinage with obvious civic pride. The joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, which began in 253, was almost immediately consumed by military crisis on two fronts: Sassanid pressure in the east and Gothic incursions across the Danube. Provincial mints like Ephesus kept striking through all of it.

Valerian's capture by Shapur I at Edessa in 260 effectively ended the joint reign and terminated most provincial bronze production shortly after.