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AR29 - Hadrian COS III
| Issuer | Smyrna (Conventus of Smyrna) |
|---|---|
| Year | 177-182 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P |
| Reverse description | Cybele, the Phrygian mother goddess, seated left on a throne, holding a patera in her extended right hand and resting her left arm upon a tympanum (drum). A lion, emblematic of the goddess, is depicted at her feet facing left with its right forepaw raised, a motif closely associated with the cult of Cybele at Smyrna. The reverse legend COS III appears in the field, referencing Hadrian's third consulship. |
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| Additional information |
Smyrna was among the most politically assertive cities in the conventus system, aggressively cultivating imperial favor through coin issues and was awarded the title of "first city of Asia" — a designation it contested bitterly with Ephesus and Pergamon for generations. The COS III designation places this issue within the reign of Commodus, not Hadrian, who died in 138 AD; the "Hadrian" attribution almost certainly refers to the honorific name the city applied to its own magistrates or cult titles rather than the emperor himself.