Egypt, Alexandria. Diocletian 284-305. Tetradrachm. (Billon, 18.00 mm, 6.24 g). Dated RY 12 = AD 295/6. ΔIOKΛHTIANOC CЄB Laureate head right. Rev. Draped and diademed bust of Isis right with Basileion on head and the Isiac knot on the chest; L IB (date) across fields. Geissen-. Dattari-Savio Plate 283, 5711 (this coin). Emmett 4063 (3). Traces of silvering on both sides. Rare, Good Very Fine. Ex Giovanni Dattari collection. Ex Naville Numismatics Ltd., Auction 47, 03.03.2019, lot 337. We are still at the temporal extremes of the autonomous Alexandrian coinage with legends and symbols and dating expressed in Greek. Here the clear but rather impersonal facial portrait of the emperor is offset by the light, meek and serene figure of Isis, the most important and ancient female deity of Egyptian theogony, expressed here with delicate features attributed to her by the Hellenistic-Roman master engraver. The soft, satin appearance of this tetradrachm is accentuated by the soft silvering spread evenly on the coin surface.