Commodus, AE32 of Hierapolis-Kastabala, Cilicia, 177-192 AD. 

Obv: : IEROPOLITWN KASTABALEWN, draped bust of Dionysos 
right wearing wreath of ivy and holding thyrsos
Rev: AYT KAI M KOMODOS EYTYC, Commodus standing left, 
holding Nike on globe and sceptre. 

Black patina. Rare.
Lindgren I 1513; Dupont-Robert 30, 2.

This special issue is particularly interesting because 
it takes a position between pseudo-autonomous and 
normal provincial issues. The emperor is depicted on the 
coin, however, not as a portrait on the obverse, but as a 
figure on the reverse.

Contributed by  (Ars-Aeterna / David Suter, Switzerland), August 2009.