Æ34 - Hadrian L Β

This piece dates to Hadrian's first regnal year in Egypt — a politically charged moment. He had just inherited power from Trajan under circumstances suspicious enough that the Praetorian prefect Attianus allegedly arranged the elimination of four senior senators before Hadrian could even reach Rome. Egypt, as an imperial province controlled directly by the emperor and barred from senatorial governance since Augustus, was among the first mints to acknowledge the new reign. The "L Β" dating formula marks this as year two of the Egyptian calendar reckoning, which overlapped with the transition period of 117–118 CE.