Æ35 - Septimius Severus ΑΜΙϹΟΥ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΑϹ ΕΤ ϹΛ

Amisus held the status of a free city — eleuthera — under Roman administration, a privilege that allowed it to strike its own civic bronze without direct imperial mint supervision. The city year ϹΛ (year 230) in the local Pontic era anchors this piece to 197–198 AD, precisely when Septimius Severus was consolidating power after defeating Clodius Albinus at the Battle of Lugdunum. Provincial bronzes of this size from Amisus are struck on notoriously thick, uneven flans, a consequence of the city's independent casting methods rather than imperial die work.