Nummus - Constantius II FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Nicomedia

The FEL TEMP REPARATIO ("happy times are returning") coinage was launched in 348 AD to commemorate the eleven-hundredth anniversary of Rome's founding — a massive empire-wide issue struck simultaneously at mints from London to Nicomedia. The Nicomedia mint, operating in what is now İzmit in northwestern Turkey, was one of the eastern powerhouses of the system, running multiple officinae to meet the volume demanded by the propaganda campaign.

RIC VIII 73 belongs to the falling horseman type, among the most widely circulated bronze issues of the fourth century. The type was produced in such quantities that it flooded provincial markets, driving out earlier coinage and creating the archaeological signature now used to date late Roman site layers across three continents.