Æ18 - Antoninus Pius ΝΕΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea's civic bronze output under Antoninus Pius reflects the city's aggressive use of coinage to assert its rivalry with Nicomedia — both cities repeatedly petitioned Rome for the title of "first city" of Bithynia, and local bronze issues bearing the city's ethnic were one vehicle for that competition. The dispute was bitter enough that emperors occasionally had to arbitrate it directly.