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Æ28 - Valerian and Gallienus ΤΟ ΑΓΑΘΟΝ ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ
| Issuer | Ephesus (Conventus of Ephesus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 253-260 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Draped and diademed bust of Empress Salonina, facing right, supported on a crescent. The effigy displays finely rendered drapery at the shoulder and a diadem across the brow, characteristic of mid-third-century provincial portraiture. The surrounding Greek legend identifies the empress by her honorific name Chrysogone and her imperial title Augusta. The portrait, though now worn, retains the essential stylistic conventions of the Ephesian mint's civic coinage under the joint reign of Valerian I and Gallienus. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
The joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, father and son ruling simultaneously as co-emperors, lasted only until 260 AD when Valerian was captured by the Sassanid king Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa — the first Roman emperor ever taken prisoner in the field. Ephesus, as the administrative capital of the Asian conventus and one of the wealthiest cities in the eastern empire, continued striking civic bronzes throughout this period under its own authority.
The phrase ΤΟ ΑΓΑΘΟΝ, "the good," appears on a small cluster of Ephesian issues and likely reflects a civic honorific formula rather than a religious dedication, though the exact occasion for its use remains debated among specialists in Asia Minor provincial coinage.