AR23 - Philip I L - Γ

Philip I's Alexandrian coinage was issued under the prefectural mint system that had governed Egypt's closed currency zone since Augustus — a monetary arrangement that required all coin brought into Egypt to be exchanged for local issues, effectively trapping silver within the province. By the 240s, the billon content of these tetradrachms had declined sharply from earlier imperial standards, a debasement that accelerated under the financial pressures of Philip's ambitious frontier campaigns and the enormous donative he paid to secure his position after Gordian III's death in 244.