Æ28 - Domitian Η ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΩΤΗ ΒΕΙΘΥΝΙΑΣ Κ (Ι) (ΠΟ), ΝΙΚΟ-ΜΗ (in field)

Nicomedia's claim to the title "first and metropolis of Bithynia" was a fiercely contested civic honor, disputed at length with Nicaea throughout the imperial period. The legend on this piece is a direct assertion of that primacy, struck under Domitian at a moment when such honorifics required imperial sanction — and imperial favor was very much worth advertising in bronze.