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Message:: [QUOTE="Ardatirion, post: 2363101, member: 9204"]In my opinion, most collectors severely misunderstand Roman-Egyptian coinage when they think of it like the rest of provincial coinage. Unlike the other provinces, Egypt was under the direct control of the emperor. For centuries the province was administered for the personal profit of the ruler, rather than for the benefit of the Empire as a whole or for the citizens of the province. As such, I think its best to think of it as a highly-centralized and controlled Imperial coinage with a strongly limited circulation area. Just look at the types. Rather than celebrating local history and culture, the types focus solely on the Emperor and a few Imperial deities. Likewise, in other areas, the coins almost invariably name the ethnic or give some legend describing the area issuing them, whereas the Egyptian issues rarely have any reverse legend at all. That's not to say the Roman officials in Egypt never experimented with more locally-flavored types. There is a fascinating series struck primarily during the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius for the various nomes of Egypt, usually with a depiction of a significant local deity. There's also the tesserae, which never show an Imperial portrait.[/QUOTE]