Tacitus, AD 275-276, Tetradrachm

Tacitus, Tetradrachm, billon, reign AD 275–276; Alexandria, regnal year 1 (AD 275/6). 6.67 g; 20 mm.

Laureate and cuirassed bust of Tacitus right; legend Α Κ ΚΛ ΤΑΚΙΤΟϹ ϹΕΒ. Reverse with legend ΕΤΟΥϹ Α (Year 1) across field, indicating the first regnal year of issue at Alexandria. Struck on the late Alexandrian billon standard with compact flan, consistent with 3rd-century provincial fabric. RPC X (online), ID 75763 (unassigned). Tacitus was selected by the Senate after Aurelian’s death and ruled briefly in AD 275–276. Alexandrian tetradrachms of his reign continue Egypt’s long-standing regnal-year dating system; the legend ΕΤΟΥϹ Α places this coin in his first year (AD 275/6). By this period the Alexandrian tetradrachm had become a low-fineness billon denomination, reflecting the monetary conditions of the later third century, and issues like this document the final decades of Egypt’s autonomous provincial coinage before Diocletian’s reform ended the series.