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Æ16 - Septimius Severus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicaea (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 193-211 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 16 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Demeter standing facing with head turned to the left, holding an ear of grain in her extended right hand and resting her left hand upon a long torch. The goddess is depicted in flowing drapery in the tradition of Hellenistic divine imagery. The ethnic legend ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ is inscribed in the field, identifying the issuing city of Nicaea. The composition fills the available flan within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Nicaea was one of the most prolific provincial mints in Bithynia, and issues under Septimius Severus reflect the city's eagerness to align itself with the new Severan dynasty following the chaos of 193 AD — the Year of the Four Emperors. Nicaea had backed Pescennius Niger during the civil war, a political miscalculation that cost the city dearly when Severus prevailed and stripped it of certain civic privileges.
The restoration of minting rights, or their continuation under sufferance, makes bronzes of this reign from Nicaea politically loaded objects in a way the coins of loyalist cities simply are not.