Catalog
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| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
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| Year | 165-166 |
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| Reference(s) | RPC IV.4#2964 |
| Obverse description | Radiate bust of Emperor Marcus Aurelius facing right, adorned with the characteristic radiate crown of solar rays, with curly hair and beard rendered in the naturalistic Antonine style. The imperial legend runs around the periphery of the flan in Greek characters. The flan is irregular and somewhat worn, consistent with a provincially struck bronze of the Alexandrian mint. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Μ ΑΥΡΗΛΙΟϹ ΑΝΤΩΝΙΝΟϹ ϹΕ (Translation: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus) |
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| Additional information |
Regnal year 6 of Marcus Aurelius places this coin squarely within one of the most catastrophic episodes of the ancient world: the Antonine Plague, carried back from the eastern campaigns by Lucius Verus's returning legions and spreading through Egypt with particular devastation. Alexandrian bronze issues of this period were produced under the Roman prefectural system, which tightly controlled local coinage to prevent it circulating outside Egypt — a monetary quarantine that gives the series its provincial insularity.