AR27 - Hadrian COS III

Miletus, by Hadrian's reign, had long since lost its classical dominance but retained enough administrative weight to strike coins within the Conventus system — the Roman judicial circuit that organized provincial coinage rights across Asia Minor. The city's right to strike silver at this weight was not a given; it reflected negotiated civic status rather than automatic privilege. Hadrian visited the region during his extensive eastern tours of 123–124 and again in 128–129, and local coinages frequently spiked in production around imperial visits, serving fiscal as much as honorific purposes.