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Æ24 - Marcus Aurelius ΜΗΤ ΝΕΩ ΝΕΙΚο (Η)
| Issuer | Nicomedia (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 175-177 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Youthful bare-headed bust of Commodus, draped in cuirass and paludamentum, facing right; the portrait displays tightly curled hair rendered in the characteristic Antonine style. A circular Greek legend surrounds the effigy, enclosed within a beaded border. A circular hole, pierced post-mint near the lower centre of the flan, indicates later use as a pendant or suspension piece. |
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| Obverse lettering | Λ ΑΥΡ ΚοΜοΔοϹ Κ |
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| Additional information |
The title sequence ΜΗΤ ΝΕΩ ΝΕΙΚο on Nicomedian bronzes reflects the city's long and bitter rivalry with Nicaea over honorific titles granted by Rome. Nicomedia held the title of "first city" of Bithynia, a distinction Nicaea contested aggressively throughout the second century — the dispute was still active enough that Pliny the Younger wrote to Trajan about it decades earlier. These municipal vanities were taken with complete seriousness, and the precise arrangement of honorific abbreviations on local bronze issues was a deliberate civic statement.
The 175–177 window likely places production after Marcus Aurelius's return from the Eastern campaign and the suppression of the Avidius Cassius revolt.