He is known only from the coins he minted, which are characterized by a number of experiments in imagery on the obverse, and being issued in fractions of weight that none of his successors copied.

[2] However David W. Phillipson seems to suggest otherwise, "coins of Aphilas – notwithstanding their diversity – are comparatively rare, and his reign may have been brief.

The lowest gold content recorded for Aphilas is 90%; while high purity, this was lower than Roman coins.

[5] The smaller silver coin shows a distinguishing feature of Axumite coinage: the interior portrait is overlaid with gold.

The typology and use of a frontal bust on Aphilas' coins appear to have taken inspiration from "special presentation pieces of the Roman emperor Licinius".