Tetradrachm - Probus Elpis, Alexandria

Probus inherited an empire still fractured by the crisis of the third century, and his Egyptian tetradrachms were struck at Alexandria under the Roman prefectural administration that had controlled the mint since Augustus absorbed Egypt as an imperial province in 30 BC. The Alexandrian mint operated on a distinct billon standard entirely separate from the Roman antoninianus system — these pieces circulated only within Egypt, never across provincial borders.

Elpis, the personification of hope, appears on issues tied to specific regnal years, making Milne's sequential numbering essential for dating within Probus's reign. Year 2 of Probus corresponds to 276–277 AD.