Æ30 - Septimius Severus ΕΠΙ ϹΤ (Α) (Λ) ΡΟΥΦΙΝΟΥ ϹΟ (Ι), ϹΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ

Smyrna was among the most politically aggressive cities in Roman Asia when it came to courting imperial favor, and the inclusion of a strategos name in the legend — here Rufinus — reflects the city's practice of embedding local magistrates into the coin's authority chain, a habit that doubled as civic self-promotion. Severus himself had reason to reward Smyrna's loyalty: the city backed him during the civil war against Pescennius Niger, whose support base lay heavily in the eastern provinces.