Æ29 - Valerian and Gallienus COL IVL APAM AVG D D

Apamea in Bithynia held the status of a Roman colony — Colonia Iulia — a designation it wore proudly on its civic coinage, often invoking senatorial permission through the D D (decreto decurionum) formula. The joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, which this piece commemorates, was among the most catastrophically destabilized periods in Roman history: Valerian was captured by the Sasanian king Shapur I at Edessa in 260 AD, the only Roman emperor ever taken prisoner by a foreign enemy. Gallienus ruled alone thereafter.

Provincial bronze of this colony is sparsely documented; X#86319 is not widely cross-referenced in major die studies.