Æ25 - Maximinus ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Nicomedia's claim to the title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — temple-warden, granted by Rome in recognition of an imperial cult — was fiercely political. The city held the honor twice by this period, hence ΔΙϹ, and used it aggressively in civic coinage to assert precedence over rival Bithynian cities, particularly Nicaea, in an ongoing competition for metropolitan status that Roman emperors periodically stoked to keep provincial loyalties pliable.

Maximinus Thrax, whose reign this issue falls within, never visited the eastern provinces and was recognized by the Senate only under duress. Provincial mints like Nicomedia continued striking bronze regardless — local commerce required it.