Maximian, AD 286-305, Tetradrachm

Maximian, tetradrachm, billon; reign AD 286–305; regnal year 8 (AD 293/294); Alexandria; 7.60 g; 19 mm.

Obverse: ΜΑΞΙΜΙΑΝΟϹ ϹΕΒ; laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right.

Reverse: Regnal date L H across field (= year 8), B in right field; standing personification type of the Alexandrian series.

Struck at Alexandria, dated by the Egyptian regnal formula.

References: RPC Online X, — (unassigned), ID 76489. Issued in Maximian’s eighth regnal year, this Alexandrian tetradrachm belongs to the final phase of Egypt’s long-lived Greek-legend provincial coinage. The L H regnal date reflects the local Egyptian system, while the billon fabric and personification reverses are characteristic of late 3rd-century Alexandrian issues. Struck as the Tetrarchy was formalized in AD 293, it precedes Diocletian’s monetary reform of c. AD 296/297 that ended the tetradrachm denomination in Egypt in favor of the new imperial nummus, illustrating the transition from regional to standardized imperial currency.