Æ30 - Elagabalus ΕΠΙ ΔΙΟΦΑΝΤ ΑΡΧ ϹΑΛΗΝΩΝ

Sala was a minor Lydian city in the Hermus valley whose civic bronze issues depended entirely on the goodwill of the provincial governor and the initiative of local magistrates — the magistrate name partially preserved in this legend, Diophantus, appears as archon during Elagabalus's reign and is otherwise unattested in the epigraphic record. Civic bronze production at Sala was sparse; the city issued far fewer types than its neighbors in the Sardis conventus, which makes any attributed piece from the series relatively uncommon by volume alone.