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Æ26 - Severus Alexander ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicaea (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 222-235 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse lettering | Μ ΑΥΡ ϹΕΥΗ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟϹ ΑΥΓ (Translation: Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus) |
| Reverse description | The lunar deity Men is depicted on horseback advancing to the right, holding a small figure of Nike (Victory) in the extended hand. To the right of the composition, a serpent is coiled around a staff, referencing the Asclepian or local divine tradition. The scene is rendered in the characteristic style of Nicaean provincial bronzes of the Severan period. |
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| Additional information |
Nicaea's civic bronze issues under Severus Alexander were produced during a period when the city was aggressively promoting its claim to primacy over Nicomedia — a rivalry that played out not in warfare but in honorific titles, embassy competitions to Rome, and the volume and quality of local coin production. The neokorate status Nicaea held, granted for maintaining an imperial cult temple, fed directly into the prestige of these civic issues.
Bithynian bronze of this period circulated almost exclusively within the province, functioning alongside — but entirely separate from — official Roman imperial coinage.