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AR20 - Diocletian ΕΤΟΥϹ Γ
| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 286-287 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Eagle standing to the left with head turned to the right, holding a laurel wreath in its beak, wings spread and partially raised in the characteristic Alexandrian numismatic convention. A star appears in the field to the left or right of the eagle. The date legend ΕΤΟΥϹ Γ, indicating regnal Year 3, is inscribed in the field. The reverse is enclosed within a dotted border consistent with the obverse. The bold, deeply cut eagle type is a hallmark of late Alexandrian tetradrachm coinage. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
This tetradrachm dates to Diocletian's third regnal year in Egypt, a province that retained its own closed currency system long after the rest of the empire had abandoned it — foreign coins could not legally circulate there, and Egyptian coins could not legally leave. Diocletian would eventually abolish this system entirely in 296 AD, forcibly integrating Egypt into the imperial coinage and ending nearly three centuries of Alexandrian monetary autonomy. Issues from his early reign, before that reform, represent the last generation of a tradition stretching back to the Ptolemies.