Æ35 - Marcus Aurelius ΚΥΖΙΚΗΝΩΝ ΝΕοΚοΡΩΝ

Cyzicus held the title of neokoros — keeper of the imperial cult temple — and this coin's legend references that status directly. The city earned its first neokorate under Hadrian and was fiercely protective of the honor, which carried real commercial and diplomatic weight in the conventus. The years 169–175 place this squarely within Marcus Aurelius's Marcomannic Wars period, when imperial goodwill toward loyal Asian cities was currency in itself.

Cyzicus was among the wealthiest minting cities in Mysia, its bronze output during the Antonine period notably heavy and well-funded by local civic magistrates whose names occasionally appear in the exergue.