AR27 - Hadrian COM - BIT (in field), ROM S P AVG (in entablature)

The Koinon of Bithynia held the right to strike provincial silver only under specific imperial grants, and Hadrian's reign saw a notable expansion of such privileges across the eastern provinces — part of his broader policy of cultivating Greek civic identity rather than suppressing it. The COM BIT legend marks this as a coinage of the provincial assembly, the koinon itself acting as issuing authority rather than any individual city.

Hadrian visited Bithynia at least twice, and his attachment to the province deepened considerably after 123 AD with the death of Antinous at nearby Claudiopolis — a connection that gave the region unusual imperial attention for a generation.