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Æ29 - Macrinus ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicaea (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 217-218 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and cuirassed bust of Emperor Macrinus facing right, viewed from the front, with the effigy displaying carefully rendered curly hair and a short beard characteristic of his portraiture. The cuirass is visible at the lower truncation, with pauldron details indicated at the shoulder. A circular Greek legend surrounds the bust, running along the coin's periphery. The portrait exhibits the bold, high-relief style typical of Bithynian provincial bronze coinage of the early third century AD. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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Macrinus ruled for just fourteen months before being overthrown and executed in 218 AD, making any provincial bronze struck in his name inherently short-dated. Nicaea, as one of the dominant civic mints of Bithynia, maintained active bronze production throughout the Severan period and continued issuing under Macrinus without interruption — the city had no particular stake in dynastic loyalty.
The rivalry between Nicaea and Nicomedia for primacy in the province shaped much of their civic coinage output, with both cities leveraging imperial portrait issues partly as assertions of status.