Pessinus, the ancient Phrygian cult center of Cybele, held an unusual position in the Roman provincial system — its civic identity was inseparable from the Great Mother's sanctuary, which had drawn Roman diplomatic attention since the Second Punic War, when her sacred black stone was formally transferred to Rome in 204 BC. By the Antonine period the city was minting civic bronze with enough regularity to suggest a functioning local economy built substantially around religious traffic. The SNG von Aulock specimen provides the primary comparative anchor for this type, with RPC IV.3 assembling the die evidence more recently.
Pessinus, the ancient Phrygian cult center of Cybele, held an unusual position in the Roman provincial system — its civic identity was inseparable from the Great Mother's sanctuary, which had drawn Roman diplomatic attention since the Second Punic War, when her sacred black stone was formally transferred to Rome in 204 BC. By the Antonine period the city was minting civic bronze with enough regularity to suggest a functioning local economy built substantially around religious traffic. The SNG von Aulock specimen provides the primary comparative anchor for this type, with RPC IV.3 assembling the die evidence more recently.