Æ35 - Elagabalus ΙΕΡΑΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Hierapolis in Phrygia earned the title neokoros — warden of an imperial cult temple — during the reign of Elagabalus, a distinction that carried enormous civic prestige and real economic consequence in the form of tax privileges and festival rights. The city moved quickly to advertise the honor on its bronze coinage, and issues proclaiming ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ from this brief reign are correspondingly scarce simply because the window was so narrow: Elagabalus was murdered by the Praetorian Guard in March 222, barely four years after coming to power.

Hierapolis held a position of commercial significance along Phrygian trade routes, and its civic bronzes were struck to large module partly as a prestige statement rather than for routine small transactions.