AR22 - Gordian III L - Ε

This tetradrachm belongs to Gordian III's fifth regnal year — the Ε marking that date — issued by the Roman imperial mint at Alexandria, which operated under a deliberately closed currency system. Egypt's coinage was not interchangeable with the broader imperial silver currency; all coins entering the province were reminted, and all coins leaving it were similarly exchanged, funneling seigniorage revenue directly to the imperial treasury. Gordian was nineteen at most when this piece was struck.

The billon content by this point had degraded substantially from earlier Alexandrian tetradrachms, a slide that accelerated through the third century crisis.