Æ30 - Gordian III ΕΠΙ ΑΥΡ ΡΟΥΦΕΙΝΟΥ ΑΡΧ Α Τ Β ϹΑΡΔΙΑΝΩΝ Β ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Sardis held the neokorate — the honor of maintaining an imperial cult temple — twice by the Severan period, and the city jealously advertised both titles on its coinage. The magistrate named in this issue, Aurelius Rhoufinos, held the office of archon, the senior civic magistracy in the Greek east, and his name appearing in full reflects the competitive civic culture of Lydian cities, where presiding over an imperial issue was a mark of genuine local prestige.

Gordian III's reign produced an exceptionally dense run of provincial bronzes across the Sardis series, partly because his accession at age thirteen required aggressive projection of legitimacy throughout the eastern provinces.