Æ24 - Valerian and Gallienus ΑΓΩΝΕϹ ΙΕΡΟΙ, ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea's civic coinage under the joint reign of Valerian I and Gallienus coincided with one of the most violent stretches of Rome's third-century crisis — Valerian himself was captured by the Sasanian king Shapur I in 260 AD, the only Roman emperor ever taken prisoner in battle. The ΑΓΩΝΕϹ ΙΕΡΟΙ legend references the sacred games held at Nicaea, a city that competed aggressively with Nicomedia and Pergamon for honorific titles and festival prestige throughout this period.

That civic rivalry produced an unusually rich local bronze output even as the imperial silver coinage collapsed in fineness.