Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
AR21 - Diocletian L Δ
| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 295-296 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Nike, the winged goddess of victory, advancing to the right with her head turned back to the left, her drapery in motion. She holds a victor's wreath extended behind her in one hand and a tall palm branch before her in the other, both attributes emblematic of military triumph. The regnal date L Δ (Year 4, corresponding to 295–296 AD) appears in the field, serving as the dating formula standard to Alexandrian tetradrachm coinage of the tetrarchic era. The flan surface is heavily worn and encrusted, with the reverse type partially legible. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Year four of Diocletian's reign in Egyptian reckoning — marked by the L Δ regnal date — coincides almost exactly with his sweeping monetary reform of 296 AD, which abolished the old Alexandrian tetradrachm tradition entirely. This piece represents one of the final issues of a coinage system that had operated continuously, in one form or another, since the Ptolemaic era. The Alexandria mint was folded into the imperial system shortly after, striking the new post-reform nummus alongside the rest of the empire.