Trichryson - Ptolemy II Alexandria

The trichryson — worth three gold pieces — was part of Ptolemy II's ambitious monetary overhaul at the start of his reign, a deliberate break from the Attic weight standard that had governed Greek coinage for generations. By shifting to a lighter Phoenician-based standard, Alexandria positioned itself to dominate eastern Mediterranean trade on its own terms, making Ptolemaic gold inconvenient to exchange at par with Macedonian or Seleucid issues. The move was as much commercial policy as political assertion.

Svoronos 583 places this among the earliest Alexandrian issues of the new reign, struck before the monetary reforms fully consolidated.