Maximianus, first reign, AD 286-305. Billon tetradrachm, Alexandria

Maximianus, first reign, AD 286-305. Billon tetradrachm, Alexandria, regnal year 8 = AD 291/2, 2nd officina (Β). Obv. ΜΑΞΙΜΙΑΝΟC CEB, laureate bust of Maximianus right, wearing cuirass and paludamentum. Rev. Eagle standing left on thick ground-line, head turned right, holding wreath in beak; date mark L-Η flanking field, officina letter Β in exergue. Curtis 2061; Dattari-Savio 6009; Emmett 4108.8 (R3); Geissen 3326; Milne 5074; Kampmann & Ganschow 120.68; SNG Cop 1055-56. Rare regnal year. Deep olive-brown patina with earthen highlights, minor edge knocks but legends and type clear. Purchased from Barry Murphy, 1999.

Struck during the eighth Alexandrian year of the Tetrarchy (counted from Diocletian’s accession in 284), this coin illustrates how Egypt—still using the closed silver-billon tetradrachm standard—adapted imperial iconography for local currency. The obverse proclaims Maximianus as sebastos (“Augustus”), visually aligning him with his senior colleague Diocletian, while the reverse eagle—long a symbol of imperial might in Alexandrian coinage—clasps a wreath of victory, advertising the regime’s military successes against usurpers and border threats. Year-dated Alexandrian tetradrachms provide a precise modern chronology for the early Tetrarchic period, and pieces from rarer years such as L-Η appear only infrequently on the market, making this example a desirable link to the economic and political reforms that reshaped the late Roman Empire.