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| Issuer | Nicomedia (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 253-268 |
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| Reference(s) | X#84180 |
| Obverse description | Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gallienus facing right, depicted from the front, with the radiate crown rendered in the provincial style typical of Bithynian civic coinage. The emperor's effigy exhibits military dress with visible paludamentum and segmented cuirass. The Greek legend encircles the bust within the field, identifying the emperor by his full titulature. The flan is irregular and the surfaces show heavy green patination consistent with prolonged burial, with the portrait details now considerably worn. |
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| Obverse lettering | ΠΟ ΛΙ ΕΓΝ ΓΑΛΛΗΝΟϹ ΑΥΓ (Translation: Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus Augustus) |
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| Additional information |
Nicomedia held the title of neokoros — official keeper of an imperial cult temple — three times by this period, a distinction that cities competed for aggressively under the Severans and their successors. The triple neokorate advertised in the reverse legend was a point of civic pride Nicomedia had accumulated across roughly a century of lobbying Rome, the third grant likely confirmed under Valerian himself.
The joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus, which this coin explicitly commemorates by naming both, ended when Valerian was captured by the Sasanian king Shapur I at Edessa in 260 — the only Roman emperor ever taken prisoner in battle.