SEVERUS ALEXANDER
AD 222-235
AE20. 3.95g, 19.9mm
MINTED: BITHYNIA, Nicomedia, circa AD 222-235
REF: RecGen 309
OBVERSE: M AVP CEVH AΛEΞANΔPOC AVΓ, laureate head right.
REVERSE: NIKOMHΔEΩN ΔIC NEOK (MH ligate), Tyche standing left, in modius, chiton and peplos, holding rudder in right hand and cornucopiae in left.

Grade/Notes:
Almost Very Fine. Very nice light green patina.
The legend "ΔIC NEOK" on the reverse indicates that the city had allowed to build two imperial cult temples (neocorates) as a mark of honour bestowed upon it by the Roman Emperor. 
 
Historical Notes:
Nicomedia was a large, metropolitan port-city that served as the capital of the Roman province of Bithynia.  It benefited not only from its strategic location between Europe and the East, but also from a fertile hinterland.  During the Severan era, both Caracalla and Elagabalus spent some time in the city, the former while preparing for his campaign against Parthia, and the later in 218, while en route to Rome shortly after he had been declared Emperor.  It was said that the bizarre religious rituals Elagabalus held while at Nicomedia so alarmed the citizens that they rioted against him.  During the Tetrarchy, Nicomedia became one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire, with Emperor Diocletian making it the capital of the Empire's eastern half.