Æ28 - Gallienus (sole reign) - C I F S AN CCCXXX

The year 260 marked one of the lowest points of the third-century crisis: Valerian had just been captured by Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa, leaving Gallienus to rule alone while simultaneously suppressing at least two usurpers. Provincial mints like Sinope were operating under significant political uncertainty, and the dating formula encoded in the reverse legend — year 330 of the Pontic era, anchored to 297 BC — reflects a civic calendar that the city had maintained continuously through centuries of Roman rule, a quiet assertion of municipal identity that outlasted dozens of emperors.