Æ37 - Commodus ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ

Hadrianopolis in Phrygia — not to be confused with the better-known Thracian city — was a minor civic mint that seized on the early reign of Commodus to assert local identity through bronze coinage. The city's full Greek ethnic legend, ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ, was a deliberate assertion of the Hadrianic foundation the city claimed, whether or not that origin was strictly historical. Civic bronzes of this size from Phrygian Hadrianopolis are poorly represented in major collections, with relatively few dies documented compared to larger conventus centers like Synnada or Apameia.