★ Extremely rare dateless tet ★

EGYPT, Alexandria: Diocletian (284-305), billon tetradrachm, issued 285-89. 8.12g, 19mm.
Obv: A K Γ OΥA ΔIOKΛHTIANOC CEB, laureate and cuirassed bust right
Rev: Tyche standing left, holding rudder and cornucopiae; no date.
Emmett 4082var.; Köln 3230var.; Dattari 5755var.; Milne 4821var.

The lack of a date on this coin is extremely unusual (there is no trace of one, even under magnification). We showed the photo to Keith Emmett, and he remarked that the type is normally dated “ETOYC / [Year]” on left and right, or “L[Year]’ on the right; most common is year 3. On coins of the previous dynasty (Carus et al.) the year is found in the upper left for this type, so one might suppose that the o/c strike has lopped off an anomalously tiny “LΓ” there; however the remains of the dotted border can be seen at 11 o’clock and do not leave enough room for a date, no matter how small (it seems the dotted border is often slightly oblong on this issue).

After eliminating the other options, the only remaining possibilities seem to be the most thoroughly clogged die ever, or that this is an extremely rare error. Either way we could find no others on acsearch for any tetradrachm issued under any emperor (other than a few types that are normally dateless). Most likely an unfinished die was briefly used by mistake.