Ephesos, Ionia, 202-150 BC, Drachm

Ephesos, Ionia, AR drachm, 202–150 BC, Ephesos mint. 3.74 g, 16 mm. Obverse with bee standing, wings closed; in fields, Ε to left and Φ to right. Reverse with forepart of stag right; ΑΝΤΙΦΙΛΟΣ above; ethnic and control marks as struck. Well-centred with clear legends and principal devices, minor flatness consistent with the issue. BMC Ionia 124–125.

Ephesos was one of the principal cities of Ionian Asia Minor and a major commercial and religious centre; its silver drachms formed part of the regional currency used for civic payments and trade. The bee and stag are long-standing Ephesian civic types associated with the city’s identity and its major sanctuary, and magistrate names such as ΑΝΤΙΦΙΛΟΣ document the civic administration responsible for minting in the Hellenistic period after the fragmentation of Alexander’s empire.