The regnal year L Γ (Year 3) places this issue in the immediate aftermath of Marcus Aurelius's accession following the death of Antoninus Pius in 161 AD — a transition that also elevated Lucius Verus as co-emperor, marking the first time Rome had operated under two simultaneously reigning Augusti. Alexandria's mint was producing billon tetradrachms at a furious pace during these years, partly to fund the Parthian War that Lucius Verus would shortly be dispatched to manage. The billon alloy by this period had deteriorated significantly from earlier Julio-Claudian silver standards, a debasement that had been quietly accelerating since Nero's monetary reforms a century prior.
The regnal year L Γ (Year 3) places this issue in the immediate aftermath of Marcus Aurelius's accession following the death of Antoninus Pius in 161 AD — a transition that also elevated Lucius Verus as co-emperor, marking the first time Rome had operated under two simultaneously reigning Augusti. Alexandria's mint was producing billon tetradrachms at a furious pace during these years, partly to fund the Parthian War that Lucius Verus would shortly be dispatched to manage. The billon alloy by this period had deteriorated significantly from earlier Julio-Claudian silver standards, a debasement that had been quietly accelerating since Nero's monetary reforms a century prior.