Nicomedia held the title of neokoros — warden of the imperial cult — twice over by this period, a status it competed for aggressively against rival Bithynian cities, particularly Nicaea. The designation ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ advertised that dual honor on the coinage itself, a deliberate civic boast tied directly to the city's political relationship with Rome. Maximinus Thrax, under whom this was struck, never visited the eastern provinces at all during his reign.
Nicomedia held the title of neokoros — warden of the imperial cult — twice over by this period, a status it competed for aggressively against rival Bithynian cities, particularly Nicaea. The designation ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ advertised that dual honor on the coinage itself, a deliberate civic boast tied directly to the city's political relationship with Rome. Maximinus Thrax, under whom this was struck, never visited the eastern provinces at all during his reign.