Amisus was one of the few cities in the Black Sea region to retain the honorary title "free city" under Roman administration — a privilege granted by Pompey after his reorganization of Pontus in 64 BC and fiercely maintained through successive imperial reigns. The civic era date ϹΟΒ (year 272) confirms this issue belongs to the local Amisene calendar reckoning from roughly 31 BC, placing it squarely in the reign of Gordian III. That the city continued issuing large bronzes on its own civic calendar well into the third century reflects the administrative autonomy Rome permitted — and Amisus exploited — long after most Pontic mints had surrendered independent reckoning.
Amisus was one of the few cities in the Black Sea region to retain the honorary title "free city" under Roman administration — a privilege granted by Pompey after his reorganization of Pontus in 64 BC and fiercely maintained through successive imperial reigns. The civic era date ϹΟΒ (year 272) confirms this issue belongs to the local Amisene calendar reckoning from roughly 31 BC, placing it squarely in the reign of Gordian III. That the city continued issuing large bronzes on its own civic calendar well into the third century reflects the administrative autonomy Rome permitted — and Amisus exploited — long after most Pontic mints had surrendered independent reckoning.