EGYPT. Alexandria. Zenobia, usurper, 268-272. Tetradrachm (Bronze, 24 mm, 9.95 g, 12 h), RY 5 = 272. ϹЄΠΤΙΜ ΖΗΝΟΒΙΑ ϹЄΒ Diademed and draped bust of Zenobia to right. Rev. Homonoia standing front, head to left, raising her right hand and holding double cornucopiae in her left; in field to left, L Є (date). Bland, Coinage 59. Dattari (Savio) 5512. Emmett 3912. K&G 108.2. RPC X online ID 75758. SNG Copenhagen 904. Rare. Lovely reddish patina and with an attractive portrait. Light deposits and with minor traces of corrosion, otherwise, good very fine.


After the assassination of her husband Odaenathus in 267, Zenobia ruled Palmyra on behalf of her young son Vaballathus and rapidly extended Palmyrene power across much of the Roman East. Palmyrene forces seized Egypt in 270, and the Alexandrian mint initially reflected an uneasy accommodation with Rome by issuing tetradrachms for Vaballathus alongside Aurelian. In 272, however, this arrangement collapsed: Alexandria began striking tetradrachms for Zenobia herself, styling her Sebaste (Augusta), while Vaballathus likewise assumed the imperial title. These coins thus belong to the brief moment when Palmyrene rule in Egypt had developed into an open challenge to Roman imperial authority, shortly before Aurelian reconquered the province and brought Zenobia’s ambitions to an end. Particularly evocative in the Alexandrian context is Palmyrene propaganda presenting the city as Vaballathus’ 'ancestral city', drawing upon Zenobia’s asserted descent from the Ptolemies.