AR23 - Gordian III L Δ

This tetradrachm belongs to Regnal Year 4 of Gordian III, struck at the Alexandria mint during a period when the Egyptian coinage had been administratively isolated from the rest of the Roman monetary system for over two centuries. The billon content by this point had degraded substantially from the old Ptolemaic silver standard — Alexandria's tetradrachms were effectively fiduciary tokens, their acceptance enforced by the closed currency system that prevented their export from Egypt.

Köln 2650 and Milne 3586 align on this type without significant die discrepancy, suggesting a reasonably stable production run for Year 4.