Æ25 - Severus Alexander ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea was one of the most prolific civic mints in Bithynia under the Severan dynasty, competing openly with neighboring Nicomedia for prestige and imperial favor. The city had been refounded by Antigonus and later seized and renamed by Lysimachus, and its civic coinage under Alexander Severus reflects a municipality still invested in projecting Hellenic identity through bronze issues long after Rome had absorbed the region administratively.

The ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ ethnic on the reverse asserts that civic pride directly — a deliberate choice at a mint that produced dozens of types across this reign.