Æ33 - Valerian and Gallienus ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡΑ ΚΛΑ ΝΕΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ / Τ-ΗΙΩ-Ν

Teos, the Ionian coastal city best known as the birthplace of the poet Anacreon, struck provincial bronzes under the joint reign of Valerian I and his son Gallienus during one of the Roman Empire's most catastrophic stretches — a period when the Sassanid king Shapur I was actively raiding deep into Asia Minor. The strategos named in the obverse legend, Claudius Nicephorus, was a local magistrate whose name appears on a small cluster of Tean issues, suggesting a relatively brief tenure in office. Provincial cities like Teos assumed much of the administrative burden of coinage as central imperial minting priorities shifted toward military exigencies.