Æ12 - Trajan L ΙϚ

Year 16 of Trajan's reign, which this coin's regnal date marks, fell during the immediate run-up to his Parthian campaign — the most ambitious Roman military undertaking since Augustus. Alexandrian civic bronzes of this precise year are among the smallest denominations the mint produced, and their survival rate is poor; the thin fabric and low module made them vulnerable to corrosion in Egypt's agricultural zones despite the otherwise favorable preservation conditions of the Nile Delta.