Æ29 - Marcus Aurelius ϹΤΡ Μ ϹΕΛΛΙΟΥ ΚΟΜΟΔΩ ϹΜΥΡΝΑΙΩ ΟΜΟ ΝΙΚΟΜ

The homonoia coinage between Smyrna and Nicomedia — of which this is an example — reflects the competitive civic culture of Asia Minor under the Antonines, where cities spent considerable political energy negotiating mutual recognition agreements. Smyrna and Nicomedia each held the title of "first city" by their own reckoning, and these joint issues were as much about managing that rivalry as celebrating it. The strategos Sellius Commodus, named in the obverse legend, held local magistracy during the co-reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, placing this issue precisely in the window following the younger Commodus's elevation to Augustus in 177.