Æ31 - Marcus Aurelius ΑΡΤΕΜΙϹ ΕΦΕϹΙΑ

Struck at Ephesus during the co-reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, this issue dates to a politically charged window: Rome had just weathered the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars, and the elevation of Commodus to co-emperor in 177 AD was itself a departure from the adoptive succession model that had defined the preceding century. Ephesus, as the administrative capital of the conventus and one of the largest cities in the Roman east, routinely produced civic bronzes that reinforced local religious identity alongside imperial authority.

The Artemis Ephesia cult was among the wealthiest religious institutions in the ancient world, with the temple treasury functioning as a regional bank.