Catalog
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| Issuer | Alexandria (Egypt) |
|---|---|
| Year | 126-127 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Reverse description | The Canopic jar of Osiris-Serapis, depicted facing right in the field, surmounted by the head of the deity wearing a modius and flanked by the characteristic shoulder appendages of the Canopus type; the urn rests on a decorated base. This distinctly Alexandrian religious motif reflects the syncretic Greco-Egyptian cult of Serapis promoted during the imperial period. The date legend appears in two parts flanking the central device within a beaded border. |
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| Mintage | ND (126-127) |
| Additional information |
Year 11 of Hadrian's reign fell during his extended tour of the eastern provinces — he visited Egypt in 130 AD, but the administrative machinery of Alexandria was already producing coins in his name years before he arrived in person. The Alexandrian mint operated under a distinct billon standard entirely separate from the Roman imperial silver system, a deliberate retention of Ptolemaic-era monetary tradition that Rome never bothered to harmonize. Egyptian coinage remained inconvertible outside the province by law.
The Köln and Dattari references place this piece within a well-documented regnal year, making attribution unusually clean for a provincial issue of this period.