AR23 - Hadrian L Β

This tetradrachm dates to Hadrian's first regnal year in Egypt — a moment of genuine administrative uncertainty. Trajan died in Cilicia in August 117, and Hadrian's adoption was announced posthumously, raising immediate questions about the succession's legitimacy. Egyptian coinage of this transitional year was struck on the Alexandrian billon standard, though early issues like this one retain unusually high silver content before the progressive debasement that would characterize later Hadrianic production. The Egyptian mint operated on a closed currency system; coins struck here could not legally circulate outside the province.