Nicaea was one of the most prolific civic minting authorities in Bithynia under the Severan dynasty, issuing bronze coinage continuously across multiple reigns to serve local transactional needs that imperial silver couldn't efficiently cover. The city's output under Severus Alexander is well-documented but individually common, the high survival rate a function of volume rather than any interruption to use.
Nicaea would later be the site of the First Council of 325 AD, though at the time of this coin's striking it was simply one of several competing Bithynian cities — Nicomedia held the provincial capital status — minting autonomous bronzes under imperial sanction.
Nicaea was one of the most prolific civic minting authorities in Bithynia under the Severan dynasty, issuing bronze coinage continuously across multiple reigns to serve local transactional needs that imperial silver couldn't efficiently cover. The city's output under Severus Alexander is well-documented but individually common, the high survival rate a function of volume rather than any interruption to use.
Nicaea would later be the site of the First Council of 325 AD, though at the time of this coin's striking it was simply one of several competing Bithynian cities — Nicomedia held the provincial capital status — minting autonomous bronzes under imperial sanction.