A bronze coin of Sardes dated to 188–133 BC, struck during the period when the city formed part of the Kingdom of Pergamon following the Peace of Apamea in 188 BC, which concluded the Roman–Seleucid War.
Sardes, the former capital of Lydia and seat of the Mermnad dynasty, remained in the Hellenistic era one of the principal urban centers of Asia Minor. The city is extensively attested in ancient sources (including Herodotus, Strabo, and Polybius), and its continuous minting activity—from the Archaic period through the Roman era—is well documented in numismatic scholarship and museum collections.
The reverse depicts a club within a laurel wreath, accompanied by the legend ΣΑΡΔΙ ΑΝΩΝ, the ethnic referring to the people of Sardes. The club motif is associated in the Greek world with Herakles and appears in the coinage of numerous cities of Asia Minor.
Greece
Lydia, Sardis, AE 188–133 BC
Obverse: head of Apollo right
Reverse: club within oak wreath
ΣΑΡΔΙ ΑΝΩΝ
Diameter 16 mm, weight 3.68 g
