Æ37 - Marcus Aurelius ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ Β ΝΕ ϹΑΡΔΙΑΝΩΝ οΜοΝοΙΑ

This homonoia issue documents a formal alliance between Ephesus and Sardis, two of the most rivalrous cities in the Roman province of Asia. Such agreements were brokered through civic diplomacy and often tied to shared religious festivals or mutual recognition of title disputes — both cities held the coveted neokoros designation, meaning "temple warden," and the negotiation of precedence between them was a persistent source of friction. The joint coinage was one mechanism by which that friction was, at least publicly, resolved.

The early years of Marcus Aurelius's reign saw an unusual proliferation of these inter-city issues across Asia Minor, possibly connected to the administrative reorganization following the transition from Antoninus Pius in 161.