Æ32 - Septimius Severus ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡΑ ΙΟΥ ΠΩΛΛΙΩΝ , ΠΕΡΓΑΜΗΝΩΝ Β ΝΕΟΚ

Pergamum held the title of "neokoros" — temple warden of the imperial cult — twice over by the Severan period, a status this coin's reverse legend explicitly advertises. The designation "Β ΝΕΟΚ" (twice neokoros) was a matter of intense civic competition among the great cities of Asia Minor; Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum jockeyed relentlessly for such honorifics, which translated directly into prestige, festival rights, and Roman favor. The strategus Pollion named in the obverse legend served as the city's eponymous magistrate, anchoring the issue to a specific administrative year within Severus's reign.