Æ30 - Elagabalus ΒΙΘΥΝΙΕΩΝ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΩΝ

Bithynium — the birthplace of Antinous, Hadrian's famously deified companion — retained its honorific title ΑΔΡΙΑΝΩΝ (Adrianon) long after Hadrian's death, a civic distinction that carried real prestige and commercial identity well into the third century. Under Elagabalus, provincial bronzes from Bithynia continued to circulate heavily alongside imperial issues, filling a persistent gap in small-denomination coinage that Rome never adequately supplied to the eastern provinces.

The city's dual name, Bithynium-Claudiopolis, reflects its earlier refounding under Claudius.