Diocletian, AD 284-305, Tetradrachm

Maximian, tetradrachm, billon; reign AD 286–305, Alexandria, regnal year 2 (AD 287/288). 6.50 g; 19 mm. Obverse: Α Κ ΜΑ ΟΥΑ ΜΑΞΙΜΙΑΝΟϹ ϹΕΒ; laureate bust right. Reverse: L Β, the Alexandrian regnal date mark for year 2. Struck at Alexandria on late provincial billon fabric with Greek legends and explicit regnal dating typical of the terminal phase of the tetradrachm series. References: RPC X Online, unassigned ID 75957.

This Alexandrian tetradrachm belongs to the late provincial coinage of Roman Egypt, which uniquely retained Greek legends and dated issues by regnal years using the Egyptian L (year) notation. The L B mark places the coin in Maximian’s second regnal year at Alexandria (AD 287/288), early in the Tetrarchic period. Within a decade, Diocletian’s monetary reforms (c. AD 296/297) ended the long Alexandrian tetradrachm tradition in favor of the imperial nummus, making these dated provincial pieces primary evidence for the chronology and administrative transition from regional to standardized imperial coinage.