Æ26 - Trebonianus Gallus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea was among the most productive civic minting centers in Bithynia during the third century, and issues under Trebonianus Gallus reflect the city's continued authority to strike bronze for local circulation even as the imperial coinage system strained under plague, usurpation, and near-constant military expenditure. Gallus came to power in the chaotic aftermath of Decius's death at the Battle of Abritus in 251 — the first Roman emperor killed in battle by a foreign enemy — and his two-year reign saw the Antonine Plague's successor, the Plague of Cyprian, devastate urban populations across the eastern provinces.