AR23 - Antoninus Pius L ΙΖ

Year 17 of Antoninus Pius falls squarely within the longest peaceful reign of the second century — no frontier wars, no succession crises, almost no political executions. Egypt under Roman administration continued producing its own closed currency system in billon, a deliberate policy that forced travelers and merchants to exchange coinage at the border, generating revenue for the imperial treasury. Alexandrian tetradrachms of this period circulated exclusively within Egypt and were demonetized upon withdrawal, which is precisely why so many survive in such varied states of wear.

The Dattari reference traces to Giovanni Dattari's personal collection, assembled in Cairo around 1900 and still the foundational corpus for Alexandrian numismatics.