Cyzicus, one of the wealthiest cities of Mysia, had a long tradition of autonomous bronze coinage, but Hadrian's extended tour of the eastern provinces in 123–124 AD and again in 128–129 brought imperial attention — and patronage — directly to the city. The emperor's visits to Asia Minor frequently prompted local mints to produce prestige bronzes in oversized formats, partly as civic advertisement and partly as a direct response to the emperor's physical presence.
The ethnic ΚΥΖΙΚΗΝΩΝ places this firmly within the city's civic series rather than the provincial koinon issues. Cyzicus held the rare distinction of a free city with the right to strike its own bronze throughout much of the imperial period.
Cyzicus, one of the wealthiest cities of Mysia, had a long tradition of autonomous bronze coinage, but Hadrian's extended tour of the eastern provinces in 123–124 AD and again in 128–129 brought imperial attention — and patronage — directly to the city. The emperor's visits to Asia Minor frequently prompted local mints to produce prestige bronzes in oversized formats, partly as civic advertisement and partly as a direct response to the emperor's physical presence.
The ethnic ΚΥΖΙΚΗΝΩΝ places this firmly within the city's civic series rather than the provincial koinon issues. Cyzicus held the rare distinction of a free city with the right to strike its own bronze throughout much of the imperial period.