Diocletian, AD 284-305, Tetradrachm

Diocletian, tetradrachm, billon, reign AD 284–305, Alexandria, regnal year 1 (AD 284/285), 8.32 g, 19 mm. Greek legend Α Κ Γ ΟΥΑΛ ΔΙΟΚΛΗΤΙΑΝΟϹ ϹΕΒ surrounding a laureate bust right. Reverse with L A across the field, denoting regnal year 1 under the Alexandrian calendar. Struck on the reduced late Alexandrian billon module typical of the terminal phase of Egypt’s tetradrachm coinage, preceding its cessation under the Diocletianic reforms. References: RPC X Online, unassigned (ID 75888); cf. Emmett, Alexandrian Coins (Diocletian tetradrachms dated year 1); cf. Dattari-Savio for regnal-year types of Diocletian.

This issue marks the first Alexandrian regnal year of Diocletian, illustrating Egypt’s retention of Greek legends and local regnal dating (L = etos “year,” A = 1) within a provincial monetary system that persisted from Ptolemaic times. The coin belongs to the final phase of Egypt’s billon tetradrachm series, which ended with the monetary reforms of AD 296/297, when Diocletian standardized imperial denominations and replaced the provincial tetradrachm with the new nummus (follis), integrating Alexandria into the empire-wide currency system.