MARCUS AURELIUS
AD 138-161
AE24. 4.55g, 24.4mm
MINTED: LYDIA, Philadelphia, circa AD 166-180. Eugenetor, magistrate
REF: BMC 72; RPC Online IV.2 Temp 1371
OBVERSE: AY K M AY ANTΩNINOC, Laureate and cuirassed bust right.
REVERSE: ΕΠΙ ΕΥΓΕΝΕΤΟΡΟΣ ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕΩΝ, Shrine with two spiral columns enclosing statue Aphrodite (Venus Pudica) standing facing, head left, covering pudenda with right hand and breasts with left hand; dolphin at feet to right.
 
Notes:
Deep green patina with some surface roughness. 
An interesting reverse type, depicting a cult statue of Aphrodite within a shrine, in the same pose as the Venus de' Medici and the Capitoline Venus, which were themselves  variants of the Aphrodite of Knidos, a famous statue that was made by Praxiteles of Athens in the 4th century BC.
 
Historical Notes:
The city of Philadelphia in ancient Lydia (in present day western Turkey) was founded in 189 BC by King Eumenes II of Pergamon, in tribute to his brother Attalus II Philadelphos, whose nickname meant "one who loves their brother." It was home to one of the Seven Churches of Asia listed in the Book of Revelation.  Where Jesus was critical of five of those seven churches, he had nothing but praise for the faithful of the churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna.