Catalog
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| Issuer | Nicomedia (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 235-238 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 24 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Demeter, goddess of grain and harvest, depicted standing facing with head turned to the left, rendered in a serene, classical style typical of Bithynian provincial issues. In her right hand she holds a long torch, and in her left she extends ears of grain, emblems of her divine attributes and of the city's agricultural prosperity. The figure is well-proportioned and occupies the central field of the coin. The encircling Greek legend identifies the issuing city and proudly proclaims its twice-neocorate status. The overall style reflects the competent engraving traditions of the Nicomedian mint under the Severan and post-Severan emperors. |
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| Additional information |
Nicomedia's title ΔΙΣΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "twice temple-warden" — was fiercely contested among Bithynian cities, and the right to display it on civic coinage was a matter of provincial prestige backed by imperial favour. Maximinus Thrax, whose reign this issue dates to, was the first emperor never to set foot in Rome during his rule, spending the entirety of his three years on military campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Civic mints like Nicomedia effectively operated without direct imperial oversight for much of that period.