Æ28 - Marcus Aurelius ΑΡΤΕΜΙϹ ΕΦΕϹΙΑ

Struck during the co-regency of Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, this issue falls within the brief window between Commodus's elevation to Augustus in 177 and the death of Marcus in 180 — a period when Ephesus was actively cultivating imperial favor. The city held the title of First and Greatest Metropolis of Asia, a designation fiercely contested with Smyrna and Pergamon, and local bronze issues invoking the Artemision served the civic politics of that rivalry as much as they served any religious function.

The Artemision at Ephesus was administered by a board of temple officials whose authority intersected directly with Roman provincial governance, making the sanctuary's image on civic coinage a deliberate statement of institutional prestige rather than simple piety.