Æ28 - Valerian and Gallienus ΕФΕϹΙΩΝ Γ ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ

Ephesus held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — multiple times over, and the Γ ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ legend on this issue marks the city's claim to a third such wardenship. These honorifics were fiercely contested among the great cities of Asia Minor; Smyrna and Pergamon were perpetual rivals for the same distinctions, and the designations carried real political weight in determining which city received Roman patronage and proconsular attention. The joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, which began in 253, gave provincial mints a narrow window before Valerian's capture by Shapur I at Edessa in 260 ended co-regnal coinage entirely.