Æ33 - Antoninus Pius ΑΡ ΕϹΤΙΑΙΟΥ ΚΥΖΙ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ (tooled)

Cyzicus held the title of neokoros — temple warden to the imperial cult — a distinction granted by Rome and fiercely defended, since its loss meant a collapse in civic prestige and the lucrative festival traffic that came with it. The city received its first neokoros status under Tiberius and parlayed that standing into a consistent output of civic bronze throughout the second century. The magistrate name in the obverse legend, likely a local strategos or grammateus, anchors this piece to a specific annual office that Cyzicene inscriptions occasionally corroborate in stone.

The tooling noted here warrants caution. Cyzicene bronzes of this module attracted restorers' attention in the nineteenth century, particularly pieces passing through the Paris and London markets.