Æ41 - Septimius Severus ΠΕΛΛΑ ΚΛΑΖΟ

Clazomenae had been a minor presence in Greek coinage history for centuries before Roman provincial issues gave the city a renewed opportunity to assert civic identity through bronze. Under Septimius Severus, whose reign opened with civil war against Pescennius Niger — a conflict fought largely in Asia Minor — cities in the Smyrna conventus had strong political incentive to issue coins aligning themselves with the eventual victor. The pairing of ΠΕΛΛΑ and ΚΛΑΖΟ in the legend is the genuinely unusual detail here: it reflects a synoikism, or administrative union, between Clazomenae and the otherwise obscure Pella, a Macedonian colony in the region whose separate civic identity was by this period largely absorbed.

At 41mm and over 30g, this is a substantial civic bronze — a medallion-weight piece likely struck for prestige distribution rather than everyday exchange.