Cyzicus held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — and the city leveraged that status aggressively on its civic coinage, advertising the honor on virtually every issue it produced during the Antonine period. The designation ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ appearing here reflects a single grant of that title, awarded before Cyzicus eventually accumulated multiple neokorate honors later in the third century.
The dating to 169–175 places this squarely within the Marcomannic Wars, when Marcus Aurelius spent years campaigning on the Danube frontier and provincial cities throughout Asia Minor continued minting civic bronze largely undisturbed.
Cyzicus held the title of neokoros — temple warden of the imperial cult — and the city leveraged that status aggressively on its civic coinage, advertising the honor on virtually every issue it produced during the Antonine period. The designation ΝΕΟΚΟΡΩΝ appearing here reflects a single grant of that title, awarded before Cyzicus eventually accumulated multiple neokorate honors later in the third century.
The dating to 169–175 places this squarely within the Marcomannic Wars, when Marcus Aurelius spent years campaigning on the Danube frontier and provincial cities throughout Asia Minor continued minting civic bronze largely undisturbed.