138 to 161), who issued so many spectacular reverse types that his coinage eclipses all others. Top honors in this regard go to the Emperor Antoninus Pius (A.D. Thousands of individual issues and hundreds of unusual types were struck, including chariot scenes, architectural types, and the most bizarre and complicated fusions of ancient gods that one could imagine. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this coinage, however, is the bewildering array of reverse types. Sometimes they can be quite short, especially since it often took weeks (or months) for news of a change in regime to reach the mint at Alexandria in Egypt. Thus, “years” at the start or end of an emperor’s reign tend to be partial years. The dates are reckoned according to the calendar year at Alexandria, which usually began on Aug. One excellent feature of Roman Egyptian coins is that most of them are dated according to the regnal year of the ruling emperor, allowing them to be dated to a maximum period of one year. 193), Roman Egyptian coins were struck for every emperor who was confirmed by the senate in Rome, making it possible to acquire a good Roman portrait gallery without straying outside the series. It is virtually complete in terms of issuers from the foundation of the empire through the late third century A.D.Įxcept for Caligula (A.D. The series covers nearly three centuries and was the longest-lasting provincial coin series. Especially important among the base-metal issues was the drachm, a broad, heavy coin that today is coveted by collectors. 69 to 79) the basic monetary system of Roman Egypt was firmly in place and a whole range of denominations were being struck in quantity: billon tetradrachms and bronze drachms, hemidrachms, diobols, obols and dichalcoi. In doing so, he may have netted a profit of more than 3,500 tons of silver.īy the reign of Vespasian (A.D. Nero had a motive: He withdrew tetradrachms from circulation and replaced them with newly struck coins of lower purity and lower weight. 64 to 68 is thought to have issued more than 600 million pieces. The output of tetradrachms in Roman Egypt may have peaked under Nero (A.D. Many later tetradrachms in the series contain less than 2 percent silver. Within 50 years the amount of silver had been nearly halved, and it would steadily decrease over time. 14 to 37), found it necessary to reintroduce tetradrachms of low-grade silver (“billon”), as none had been struck since Cleopatra’s defeat some 50 years before.Īt about 31 percent silver, Tiberius’ tetradrachms were not impressive, yet they contained about 4 grams of silver, and thus were the intrinsic high point of a series that would endure for 275 years. Initially, Augustus struck Roman coinage in Egypt in accordance with Cleopatra’s issues. This, of course, meant the inscriptions on the coins were in Greek. The Romans allowed government business to be conducted in Greek, which had become the lingua franca of Egypt after three centuries of Greek rule. Since Egypt was fertile and was strategically located, the emperors kept it under especially close control, denying the Roman Senate any important role in its governance.
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