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Æ18 - Antoninus Pius ΔΙΟϹ (on altar) ΛΙΤΑΙΟΥ ΝΕΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ (Αs shaped as Λs)
| Issuer | Nicaea (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 138-161 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Emperor Antoninus Pius facing right, rendered in the provincial style typical of Bithynian civic coinage. The portrait displays the emperor's characteristic features — broad forehead, short beard, and mature physiognomy — without laurel wreath or diadem. A partial Greek legend runs along the outer margin of the field, partially visible and truncated at the right. The fabric is irregular and the surface worn, consistent with a struck hammered bronze of the mid-second century AD. |
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| Obverse lettering | ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ΑΝΤ[ (Α shaped as Λ) (Translation: Emperor Caesar Ant[---]) |
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| Additional information |
Nicaea's civic bronze issues under Antoninus Pius reflect a city still leveraging its status as the dominant metropolis of Bithynia, a rivalry with Nicomedia that expressed itself partly through the competitive elaboration of local cult imagery on coinage. The ΔΙΟϹ legend identifies this as an altar issue connected to the Nicaean cult of Zeus — a deliberate assertion of religious prestige.
The substitution of Λ for A in ΛΙΤΑΙΟΥ ΝΕΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ is a documented regional orthographic practice in Bithynian civic bronzes, not a die cutter's error.