AR26 - Trajan ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞ ΥΠΑΤ Γ

Tarsus was granted the right to strike civic silver under Trajan as part of a broader reorganization of provincial minting in Cilicia, a region Rome kept under close administrative watch due to its strategic position on the road between Syria and Anatolia. The tribunician and consular titulature in the legend dates this issue precisely to 100 AD — Trajan's third consulship, his first full year as emperor following Nerva's death in January 98.

Provincial silver of this weight class from Tarsus is considerably scarcer than the city's bronze output, which dominates surviving civic coinage from the site.