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AR23 - Gallienus (sole reign) (L ΙΑ inverted)
| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 263-264 |
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| Composition | Billon |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Tyche, the personification of Fortune and patron deity of Alexandria, stands facing left in full figure, clothed in a long chiton and himation. In her extended right hand she holds a long rudder resting on the ground, symbolising divine guidance of the city's fate, while her left arm cradles a cornucopia overflowing with abundance. The figure is rendered in a graceful, slightly stylised provincial manner consistent with Alexandrian tetradrachms of the reign of Gallienus. The regnal date, rendered as L ΙΑ (year 11, inverted), appears in the field. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The regnal year ΙΑ (year 11) tetradrachm of Gallienus from Alexandria is unremarkable in type, but this piece carries the year numeral inverted — a die-cutting error rather than a variant issue. Alexandria's output during the 260s was enormous and often hurried; Gallienus was fighting simultaneously on multiple frontiers while the empire fractured under the pressure of Postumus in the west and the Palmyrene ambitions taking shape in the east. The mint workers were not operating under calm conditions.
Milne 1539 documents the type; the inverted ΙΑ is a recognized but scarce occurrence within that emission.