AR23 - Valerian and Gallienus L Β

This issue belongs to the joint reign coinage struck at Alexandria during the early years after Valerian's accession in 253 AD, when the empire was simultaneously fighting the Sassanids in the east and Gothic incursions across the Danube. The Alexandrian mint maintained its own dating system tied to regnal years — the L Β marks year two of their joint reign — operating semi-independently from Rome's monetary apparatus.

Valerian would be captured by Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa in 260, becoming the only Roman emperor taken prisoner by a foreign enemy.