Semis L ACILIVS II VIR QVINQ

Carthago Nova — modern Cartagena — was one of the wealthiest cities in the Roman west, built on silver mining revenues so substantial that Polybius recorded the mines employing 40,000 workers at their peak. Local magistrates issued bronze fractions under their own names well into the Augustan period, a municipal privilege Rome tolerated in pacified Spanish provinces. The quinquennial designation on this semis marks L. Acilius as a duovir quinquennalis, the senior magistracy responsible for the census — held only every five years, which narrows the issue window considerably within the broad date range.