Æ27 - Septimius Severus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ

Nicaea was one of the most productive provincial mints in Bithynia under Septimius Severus, issuing bronze coinage throughout his reign as the city leveraged its status as a former Bithynian capital — a rivalry with neighboring Nicomedia that played out partly through the competitive display of civic titles on coinage. The ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ legend asserts that civic identity with deliberate force.

Severus himself came to power through civil war, defeating Pescennius Niger in 194 AD — a conflict fought largely on Bithynian soil, which made loyalty declarations from cities like Nicaea politically significant, not ceremonial.