AR24 - Marcus Aurelius L Β

Year two of Marcus Aurelius's reign marked the first full regnal year following the death of Antoninus Pius in March 161 — a transition that also elevated Lucius Verus as co-emperor, the first time Rome had been formally governed by two equal Augusti simultaneously. The Alexandrian mint, operating under Roman prefectural administration, dated its coins by Egyptian regnal year rather than Roman consular dating, making these billon tetradrachms among the more precisely datable provincial issues of the reign. The LB (year 2) designation corresponds to the Egyptian year running from late 161 into 162.