Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Æ15 - Septimius Severus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicaea (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 193-211 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | RPC V.2#77912 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A cista mystica depicted centrally in the field, from which a serpent emerges and rears to the left, a common Dionysiac and mystery-cult symbol widely employed on coins of Bithynian cities. The cista is rendered with a latticed or wicker-work body resting on a base. The ethnic legend ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ is distributed around the type in the field, identifying the issuing city of Nicaea. The design is enclosed within a dotted border, and the overall style is consistent with small provincial bronze issues of the Severan period. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ (Translation: of the Nicaeans) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Nicaea was among the most prolific provincial mints of the Severan period, and its civic coinage under Septimius Severus reflects the city's rivalry with neighboring Nicomedia — both cities aggressively courted imperial favor through coin output and monumental construction. The *ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ* ethnic legend asserts civic identity at a moment when that identity carried real political weight in Bithynian municipal competition.
At 2.00 g, this falls at the lighter end of the city's Æ15 output, consistent with documented weight reduction across Bithynian bronzes in the later Severan years.