Æ30 - Marcus Aurelius ΚΥΖΙΚΗΝΩΝ ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ (Ζ shaped as エ)

Cyzicus held the rare distinction of multiple neokorate titles — the honorific granted by Rome recognizing a city as official keeper of an imperial cult — and the boastful civic titulature inscribed on this coin reflects that status directly. The unusual Ζ rendered in a form resembling the Japanese katakana エ is not damage or engraver error; it is a documented regional letter variant found on Cyzicene bronzes of this period, likely a workshop convention rather than a scribal anomaly.