AR24 - Hadrian L Β

Hadrian's first regnal year in Alexandria — LB, year two by Egyptian reckoning — falls immediately within the succession crisis following Trajan's death in August 117. Hadrian was in Syria when he received news of his adoption, and questions about the legitimacy of that adoption dogged the early reign. The Alexandrian mint, operating on its own closed currency system, moved quickly to produce silver tetradrachms acknowledging the new emperor, partly as a practical administrative signal to Egypt's monetized economy that the transfer of power was settled.