Galerius, as Caesar, AD 293-305, Tetradrachm

Galerius, Tetradrachm, BI (billon), as Caesar AD 293–305; Alexandria, regnal year 4 (AD 296/297). 7.60 g, 20 mm. Obverse: ΓΑΛ ΜΑΞΙΜΙΑΝΟϹ Κ, laureate head right (K for Kaisar). Reverse: Eagle standing left, head right, wreath in beak; L Δ in fields indicating year 4. Struck at Alexandria on a billon flan with Greek legends and local dating. RPC X Online 76296 (unassigned).

Issued during the Tetrarchy, this Alexandrian tetradrachm is dated by the Egyptian regnal formula L (year) Δ (4) to AD 296/297, within the final phase of Egypt’s locally dated billon coinage. Galerius had been appointed Caesar in AD 293 and was engaged in eastern campaigns against the Sasanian Persians during these years. The piece illustrates the transition from Egypt’s long-standing provincial monetary system to the standardized imperial coinage introduced by Diocletian’s reforms, after which the Alexandria mint ceased striking tetradrachms and adopted the new denominations.