Æ35 - Septimius Severus ΑΛΑΒΑΝΔΕΩΝ

Alabanda, a city in Caria whose citizens were notorious enough for luxury and loose living that Cicero used them as a byword for decadence, struck bronze coinage under the Severan dynasty as part of the broader explosion of civic coinage across Asia Minor. The conventus system — Rome's circuit court arrangement — gave Alabanda administrative standing that translated directly into the privilege of minting. Severus's civil wars and subsequent eastern campaigns created strong demand for small-denomination bronze at the local level, and Carian cities responded with heavy, large-module issues exactly like this one.