Diocletian, AD 284-305, Tetradrachm

Diocletian, tetradrachm, billon, reign AD 284–305; Alexandria mint, regnal year 7 = AD 290/291; 6.90 g; 19 mm. Obv: ΔΙΟΚΛΗΤΙΑΝΟϹ ϹΕΒ, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: L Z across fields, eagle standing left with wreath in beak (regnal year 7). Struck at Alexandria in the late Roman Egyptian billon series with regnal-year dating in Greek. References: RPC Online X, temp 76084 (unassigned).

Issued in Egypt’s distinct provincial monetary system, this Alexandrian tetradrachm exemplifies the continuation of Greek legends and regnal-year dating under the early Tetrarchy. Dated to year 7 of Diocletian (AD 290/291), it belongs to the final decade before the mid-290s reforms standardized imperial coinage and brought an end to the long-lived Alexandrian tetradrachm tradition.