Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
AR23 - Marcus Aurelius L Ϛ
| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 165-166 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 13.94 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Λ ΑΥΡΗΛΙΟϹ ΟΥΗΡΟϹ ϹΕΒ |
| Reverse description | Draped bust of the Nile god Nilus facing right, crowned with a taenia and lotus-buds atop his head, emblematic of the river deity's association with Egyptian fertility and the annual inundation. A cornucopia appears before the bust, reinforcing the iconographic theme of abundance. The regnal date L Ϛ (Year 6, corresponding to 165-166 AD) is inscribed in the field, following the standard Alexandrian dating convention using the Egyptian regal year. The composition reflects the distinctive Greco-Egyptian syncretism characteristic of coinage struck at the Alexandrian mint under the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Year six of Marcus Aurelius's reign as sole emperor coincided with the catastrophic Antonine Plague, which Roman forces returning from the Parthian War carried back through the eastern provinces beginning around 165 AD. Alexandria, already a densely populated commercial hub on the Nile delta, was among the hardest-hit cities. The plague — likely smallpox — ultimately killed an estimated five million people across the empire over the following decade.
Alexandrian billon tetradrachms of this period show measurable debasement compared to earlier Antonine issues, reflecting pressure on imperial silver reserves from simultaneous military campaigns on the Danube and Parthian fronts.