If you look at the eastern part of Roman Empire from the timeline 400-650 you will easily realize that the most coins are struck in Constantinople, secondly in Antioch/Theoupolis, and then thirdplace would go to Nicomedia and Cyzicus. Forthplace would probably go to Thessaloniki and Alexandria. I am wondering: how was it in the first and second centuries in the Roman Empire? Most were struck in Rome surely, then what are the other typical mintplaces?
Earlier emperors, i.e. Augustus struck coins in Spain and Gaul. Antioch was an active mint for some official issues as well as a robust provincial coinage. Various polities in the East struck provincial coinage, with Alexandria being the most numerous in its closed economic system.
In the second century, the Rome mint was essentially the only one until the Severan dynasty, when branch mints in Alexandria and in Syria issued imperial issues alongside those of the mint in Rome. There were at least two mints in Syria, one of "Emesa" style and the other of "Laodicea" style (but now thought to be Antioch). By the middle of the third century, the mint in Antioch was very active, producing many issues for Trajan Decius, Trebonianus Gallus, Volusian, Valerian and Gallienus. Under Gallienus, a number of formerly provincial mints in the east began striking imperial issues.
The difference is that in the early period mints away from Rome tended to produce coins of their own style for local use while the later period saw many mints all making the same coins with mint mark abbreviations separating them. This strikes me as good in eliminating the need for moneychangers and allowing a standard system to circulate across the empire.
