Æ28 - Septimius Severus ΙΟΥΛΙΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ

Iuliopolis occupied an awkward position in Bithynia — a minor inland city with outsized municipal ambition, minting bronze civic issues well beyond what its economic weight would seem to justify. Under Septimius Severus, provincial cities across the eastern empire pushed hard to demonstrate loyalty to the new Severan dynasty, and local bronze coinage was one of the few instruments available to civic authorities for that kind of public signaling. Whether this piece dates to the early chaotic months of 193 — the Year of the Five Emperors — or the settled middle years of Severus's reign cannot be determined from the type alone.