Æ26 - Valerian and Gallienus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea was among the most prolific civic minting authorities in Roman Bithynia, producing bronze issues through the reigns of dozens of emperors. The joint portrait type — showing Valerian alongside his son Gallienus — reflects the formal co-emperorship established in 253 AD after Valerian's elevation by the eastern legions following Aemilian's brief and chaotic reign. Nicaea's civic bronze ceased entirely with Gallienus's later prohibition of provincial bronze coinage around 260–268, making issues from this window the city's final output before that authority was extinguished.