Æ27 - Caracalla ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea was one of the most productive civic mints in Bithynia during the Severan period, issuing bronze coinage under Caracalla in quantities that reflected the city's considerable administrative and commercial weight — it had, after all, briefly served as the capital of the Roman Empire under Diocletian a century later, a status it was already positioning itself toward. Provincial bronzes of this city under Caracalla frequently show sharper die work than comparable issues from neighboring Nicomedia, a rivalry that extended well beyond coinage.