The reverse type commemorates Aion, the Hellenistic deity of eternity and cyclical time, whose cult had particular resonance in Alexandria — a city whose intellectual tradition, from the Museion outward, had long engaged with cosmological time-keeping. This issue falls in regnal year 2 (L Β), meaning it was struck in the first full Egyptian administrative year of Antoninus Pius's reign, almost certainly before Alexandria had fully absorbed the administrative shift following Hadrian's death in July 138.
Alexandrian billon tetradrachms of this period vary considerably in silver content, generally declining across the second century. Year 2 pieces for this type are documented across the Dattari and Milne corpora but are not common survivors in collectible condition.
The reverse type commemorates Aion, the Hellenistic deity of eternity and cyclical time, whose cult had particular resonance in Alexandria — a city whose intellectual tradition, from the Museion outward, had long engaged with cosmological time-keeping. This issue falls in regnal year 2 (L Β), meaning it was struck in the first full Egyptian administrative year of Antoninus Pius's reign, almost certainly before Alexandria had fully absorbed the administrative shift following Hadrian's death in July 138.
Alexandrian billon tetradrachms of this period vary considerably in silver content, generally declining across the second century. Year 2 pieces for this type are documented across the Dattari and Milne corpora but are not common survivors in collectible condition.