Æ35 - Marcus Aurelius ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡΑ ΦοΥ ΕΡΜοΛΑοΥ ΜΥΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΓΑ (Η) (ΑοΥ may be retrograde)

This issue belongs to a narrow window: the co-regency of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, who was elevated to co-emperor in 177 AD and given the title Augustus before his father's death in 180. The strategos named in the legend — Hermolaos — served as the presiding magistrate for Mytilene under the Pergamene conventus, one of the judicial districts Rome used to administer the province of Asia. His name appearing in the legend is the primary dating anchor; without the epigraphic record of his tenure, attribution would rest on portraiture alone.

The possible retrograde rendering of ΑοΥ in the legend is a die-cutting anomaly worth noting. Engravers working provincial bronzes of this size occasionally reversed letter sequences under time pressure or when working from reversed master templates.