The Bithynians, a people of Thracian origin, were able to preserve a measure of sovereign autonomy under Persian rule. The country became more or less independent after Alexander overthrew the Persian Empire, for Alexander had by-passed the area. It was another forty years, however, before a Bithynian chief, Zipotes, became strong enough to be recognized as king. His son, Nikomedes I was the first of the dynasty to issue coins. Reigning for about twenty-five years, he founded Nikomedeia and successfully fought against the Seleukids with the assistance of the Gauls, whom he later helped settle in Phrygia.
Nikomedes was a ruler of enormous energy. In order to extend his territory, he brought into Asia Minor the dreaded Galatians or Gauls. With their help, he extended his hitherto landlocked kingdom to the coast of the Propontis, where he established his new capital of Nikomedia. He was the first of his dynasty to issue coins.
KINGS of BITHYNIA. Nikomedes I. Circa 280-250 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.57 gm, 11h). Nikomedia mint. Struck circa 260-250 BC. Diademed head right / Bendis seated right, holding two spears; shield below; to outer left, Nike advancing left. RG 2 (pl. XXIX, 3 – same rev. die); SNG Copenhagen -; EHC 414 var. (monogram); Davis & Kraay,
The Hellenistic Kingdoms 186 = De Luynes 2421 var. (same).
One of approximately six known, and apparently the only specimen in private hands. One of the greatest rarities among the important early Hellenistic portrait coins. Nikomedes' tetradrachms exhibit an exceptional Hellenistic portrait which Mørkholm (EHC) describes as "the realistic portrait of an aged king with large and rugged facial features." This is the only specimen not in a museum collection; Berlin, Vienna, and the BM each have one example, Paris (BN) has two. All have the same reverse type of Bendis (the Thracian Artemis) seated, though only Berlin and the present piece do not have the additional monogram in the inner left field.
