AR24 - Antoninus Pius L Ζ

Year 7 of Antoninus Pius's reign corresponds to 143–144 AD, a period of administrative stability in Egypt that left little mint drama to document. What distinguishes Alexandrian billon tetradrachms of this regnal year is the alloy itself: Egypt's imperial mint operated under a separate monetary system from the Roman denarius, and the billon used here — a debased silver-copper mixture — was legal tender only within the province. Romans arriving from elsewhere could not spend their denarii directly; exchange was compulsory at the frontier.

Milne 1736 places this piece within a well-documented sequence, and Dattari 2943 confirms the type is collectible but not rare.