Kings of Bithynia. Nikomedeia. Nikomedes II Epiphanes 149-127 BC. Dated RY 187 = 111/110 BC
Tetradrachm AR

31 mm, 16,61 g

Diademed head right / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩ[Σ] ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΝΙΚΟΜΗΔΟΥ, Zeus standing facing, his head turned to left, holding wreath in his right hand and scepter in his left; to left, eagle standing on thunderbolt above monogram and ZΠP (date).

Good Very Fine

HGC 7.

Nicomedes II Epiphanes, the king of Bithynia around 149 to 127 BC, rebelled against his father, Prusias II, with the support of Rome. Initially sent to Rome to limit his influence, Nicomedes II gained favor with the Roman Senate. When his father attempted to assassinate him, the emissary Menas revealed the plot, leading Nicomedes II to rebel successfully with the help of Attalus II Philadelphus, the king of Pergamon. As a result, he ordered his father's execution in Nicomedia. Throughout his reign, Nicomedes II remained a loyal ally to Rome, assisting them against a rival claimant to the Pergamon throne, Eumenes III. Notably, Nicomedes II introduced the Bithynian era for dating on his coins, a system that persisted in parts of the Greek world until the 4th century AD. His son, Nicomedes III, succeeded him as king.