Æ34 - Trajan L Α

Trajan's first Egyptian regnal year began mid-reign under Nerva, whose death in January 98 AD transferred power without political rupture — the adoption system working precisely as intended. Alexandria's mint wasted no time, striking this large bronze issue to mark the new reign before the year's end. Egyptian provincial coinage operated on a closed currency system; coins minted here were not legal tender elsewhere in the empire, and foreign coins brought into Egypt were exchanged at the border and melted.