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Æ33 - Septimius Severus ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΕΩΝ ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicomedia (Bithynia and Pontus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 193-211 |
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| Weight | 22.37 g |
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| Obverse description | Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Septimius Severus facing right, rendered with a bearded portrait in the characteristic style of the emperor's Bithynian provincial coinage. The radiate crown, composed of pointed rays, frames the imperial effigy prominently within the field. A circular Greek legend surrounds the bust, reading from left to right along the periphery of the flan. The portrait exhibits bold, high-relief engraving typical of Nicomedian civic bronze issues of the Severan period. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ΑΥ Κ Λ ϹΕΠΤΙ ϹΕΥΗΡΟϹ Π (Translation: Emperor Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pertinax) |
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Nicomedia's title ΔΙϹ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ — "twice temple-warden" — reflects the city's fierce rivalry with Nicaea over provincial precedence in Bithynia. The designation was earned through the establishment of two imperial cult temples, a status cities lobbied for aggressively and advertised on their bronze coinage as civic propaganda. Severus's reign saw several Bithynian cities competing for such honors, and the emperor himself leveraged these rivalries to reward loyalty during the civil wars of 193–197 that brought him to power against rivals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus.