Æ24 - Valerian and Gallienus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea was one of the most prolific civic minting authorities in Bithynia under the joint reign, issuing bronze coinage continuously through a period when the Roman empire was simultaneously fighting the Sassanids in the east and Gothic incursions across the Danube. Valerian was captured by Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa in 260 — an event without precedent in Roman history — and local civic bronzes like this one continued to circulate in the region long after the imperial center had effectively fractured into three competing entities.