Saguntum's late Republican bronze issues occupy an awkward transitional moment — the city held Latin rights under Rome, and its local magistrate coinages were permitted precisely because Rome had not yet consolidated provincial minting under Augustan reforms. The ΣΑΓ ΠΟΛ legend reflects the bilingual administrative reality of a Hispanian city still conducting civic business partly in Greek-derived script, a holdover from Saguntum's pre-Roman commercial ties with the Greek world. Production almost certainly ceased once Augustus rationalized coinage authority across the western provinces after 27 BC.
Saguntum's late Republican bronze issues occupy an awkward transitional moment — the city held Latin rights under Rome, and its local magistrate coinages were permitted precisely because Rome had not yet consolidated provincial minting under Augustan reforms. The ΣΑΓ ΠΟΛ legend reflects the bilingual administrative reality of a Hispanian city still conducting civic business partly in Greek-derived script, a holdover from Saguntum's pre-Roman commercial ties with the Greek world. Production almost certainly ceased once Augustus rationalized coinage authority across the western provinces after 27 BC.