Æ33 - Gordian III ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ

Nicomedia held the neokorate — the official honor of maintaining an imperial cult temple — twice by the time Gordian III's reign began, a status the city had competed fiercely to obtain and never missed an opportunity to advertise on its coinage. The legend ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ is effectively a civic boast struck in bronze, reflecting Nicomedia's rivalry with Nicaea over provincial primacy in Bithynia. That competition shaped local coinage output for over a century.

Gordian III acceded at thirteen, elevated by the Praetorian Guard after two short-lived predecessors collapsed within weeks.