Æ29 - Philip I ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Γ ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ

Philip I came to power after engineering — or at least tolerating — the murder of Gordian III during the Mesopotamian campaign of 244 AD. His reign coincided with Rome's millennial celebrations of 248 AD, and provincial mints across Asia Minor struck heavily to meet demand for commemorative and votive coinage. Ephesus, as the most prestigious city of the province of Asia, held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — multiple times over, and the Γ ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ designation marks a third such wardenship, a civic honor fiercely contested among Anatolian cities in the third century.