Æ30 - Septimius Severus ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡΑ ΤΕΛΕϹΦΟΡΟΥ, ΕΡΥΘΡΑΙΩΝ

Erythrae was a coastal Ionian city of middling importance by the imperial period, but its civic coinage under Septimius Severus was administered through the conventus of Smyrna — the regional assize district that grouped smaller cities under a shared judicial and administrative framework. The magistrate named in the legend, Telesphoros, held the office of strategos, the highest civic magistracy responsible for overseeing local coin production. His name appearing so prominently reflects the Severan-era practice of civic pride through magistrate attribution, not unlike a local politician buying his name onto a public building.