Æ28 - Septimius Severus ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Nicomedia's claim to the title ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "twice temple warden" — was a fiercely political distinction, earned through the establishment of two imperial cult temples and jealously defended against rival Bithynian cities, particularly Nicaea, in a civic prestige war that ran through the Severan period and beyond. The designation on this coin is not decorative; it was a formal honor granted by Rome and advertised on bronze coinage precisely because that coinage circulated locally, where the rivalry was felt.