AR21 - Hadrian ΑΜΙϹΟΥ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΑϹ ΕΤΟΥϹ ΡΞΓ

Amisus had enjoyed the status of a free city — civitas libera — since Pompey reorganized Pontus in 65 BC, a privilege that granted it the right to mint its own coinage and manage local affairs without direct Roman administrative interference. The city's era dating system, reflected in the inscription ΡΞΓ (year 163), runs from approximately 31 BC, placing this issue squarely within Hadrian's extensive tour of the eastern provinces, during which he visited Bithynia and Pontus in 123 and again around 131.

The retention of Greek civic coinage under Hadrian was not incidental — he actively encouraged Hellenic municipal identity across the east.