AR24 - Hadrian L Γ

Year three of Hadrian's reign marks one of his earliest appearances on Alexandrian coinage following Trajan's death in August 117. The transition was not seamless — Hadrian's accession was confirmed by the army in Syria before the Senate had formally acted, and rumors persisted that the adoption by Trajan had been fabricated by Trajan's wife Plotina. Alexandrian mint output for these first regnal years is comparatively thin, and the L Γ dating places this squarely in that uncertain opening window before Hadrian's policies and image were firmly consolidated across provincial mints.