Æ23 - Antoninus Pius L ΔωΔΕΚΑΤΟΥ

Year 12 of Antoninus Pius's reign — the regnal year encoded in the Greek numerals of the reverse inscription — places this issue in the relative stability of the mid-Antonine period, when Alexandria's civic mint was producing bronze at a steady clip for Egyptian internal circulation. Roman Egypt operated under a closed currency system: coins struck at Alexandria were not legal tender outside the province, and foreign coinage had to be exchanged at the border, a arrangement that funneled significant revenue to imperial coffers.

The Alexandrian bronze series for this reign is voluminous, and IV.4#1143 sits among several dozen reverse types struck for year 12 alone.