Gordian III came to power at thirteen years old following the violent deaths of Gordian I and II within weeks of each other — a dynastic collapse so swift that the Senate scrambled to legitimize the boy as sole Augustus in 238, the so-called Year of the Six Emperors. Alexandria's mint, operating under Roman administration but producing tetradrachms on the old Ptolemaic weight standard, dated this issue to regnal year 2 (L-Β), placing it in 238–239. The Alexandrian dating system is among the more reliable tools for sequencing Gordian's early provincial issues.
Gordian III came to power at thirteen years old following the violent deaths of Gordian I and II within weeks of each other — a dynastic collapse so swift that the Senate scrambled to legitimize the boy as sole Augustus in 238, the so-called Year of the Six Emperors. Alexandria's mint, operating under Roman administration but producing tetradrachms on the old Ptolemaic weight standard, dated this issue to regnal year 2 (L-Β), placing it in 238–239. The Alexandrian dating system is among the more reliable tools for sequencing Gordian's early provincial issues.