Æ13 - Augustus ΔΙΦΙΛΟϹ

Aegae was a minor Aeolian city of little political weight, but its magistrates understood the value of attaching the emperor's name to their local bronze. The magistrate Diphilos — named on this issue — was one of several civic officials across the Smyrna conventus who sponsored coinage in Augustus's name during the decade following Actium, a period when Greek cities were actively competing to demonstrate loyalty through exactly this kind of small-denomination civic output.

At 13 mm and under 2.5 grams, these pieces were the fractional workhorses of local market exchange, and survival rates are low.