Æ24 - Commodus ΜΗΤΡ (Π) ΝΕΩ (Ο) ΝΙΚΟΜ (Δ)

Nicomedia held the title of metropolis of Bithynia, a status it contested bitterly with Nicaea for generations — the Greek abbreviations worked into this coin's reverse legend are a direct assertion of that civic primacy, not mere convention. The Commodan period saw these inter-city rivalries peak, with both Nicomedia and Nicaea petitioning Rome repeatedly for honorific titles, each new grant reflected almost immediately in local bronze coinage.