Severus Alexander as Caesar from Antioch

[seth77]

In 218, after defeating Macrinus, the troops supporting Elagabal instate him as emperor in Antioch. Soon after his entrance in the city, Elagabal's administration undertakes a currency reform for the local 'colonial' coinage, introducing a large and a medium denomination. There is a whole debate and controversy regarding what the actual denominations were named, in the larger context of the monetary system of northern Syria (K. Butcher dwells on it quite a while) -- with a possibility in short that the large denomination was supposed to be an obol, possibly working at parity with the Imperial sestertius. As before, the S - C marking might suggest the status of this coinage as legal tender even beyond Syria.

In 221, Elagabal concedes to the requests of Julia Maesa, adopts his cousin and names him Caesar. It's not yet clear if Alexander had real attributions throughout his year as a Caesar, but at the beginning of this co-habitation it certainly seemed like Alexander would've been given an active role, sharing the 'imperium' with Elagabal. This period was short-lived though, and this is also visible from the coinage -- with very few exceptions, like Odessus in Moesia or Nicaea in Bithynia -- there are few issues for Severus Alexander as Caesar and very likely they lasted for a very short period after his inauguration around June 221.

Here is an interesting one from Antioch, the colonial metropolis of the East, where the Severan dynasty made its return, a medium denomination (there was likely no large denomination minted for Alexander):

 

AE24mm 11.72g copper/bronze(?) unit, minted at Antioch, ca. summer 221(?)
ΜΑΡ ΑΥΡΗΛΙΟϹ ΑΛƐΞΑΝΔΡΟϹ ΚƐ; bare head of Severus Alexander, r.
ΑΝΤΙ[ΟXƐ]ΩΝ ΜΗ ΚΟ; Tyche of Antioch seated on rock, l., holding corn ears; below, river god Orontes swimming, l., looking back; above, ram leaping, l., looking back; sometimes to l., star Δ - Ɛ and S - C flanking Tyche
McAlee 822; RPC VI, 8006 (temporary)

 

This is not in Butcher, but it's similar to #482 p.452 -- possibly with the full legend obscured there. The red earthen fill adds a nice look to it. The obverse legend is also very interesting, likely an experimental early phase with Aurelius (ΑΥΡΗΛΙΟϹ) fully spelled and the awkwardly KE at the ending for Caesar.

I'm sure many consider these Antiochene coins with their standard reverse, boring -- which was the case with this one, that nobody else actually wanted even for the low initial bid. But for me it's as interesting as it gets.

Edited March 5, 2023 by seth77

[Severus Alexander]

Very cool, Seth!!  I love the obverse legend in particular.

I'm embarrassed to say I don't have a single SA as Caesar provincial. 😬

Here's my denarius:

These were also a very brief issue.  Relations between the cousins were never good...

[seth77]

The Imperial issues are very unlikely to fly under the radar and are rarer than provincials. 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Don't have one. Will have to get a provincial if I want to have Severus Alexander as a Caesar. Meanwhile here is a Severus Alexander sestertius of Rome.

Type: AE (Orichalcum) Sestertius, 29mm, 17.6 grams, Rome mint

Obverse: IMP SEV ALEXANDER AVG Laureate head of Alexander right

Reverse: VICTORIA AVGVSTI Victory Standing left, holding wreath and palm

Reference: RIC 618, Sear 8022, Cohen 569

The Victory may be celebrating the defeat of the Germans at the battle of Harzhorn, but historians are unsure about the exact date of the battle, which occurred either during the latter period of the reign of Alexander or the early part of the reign of Maximinus Thrax. Since coins of Alexander were found at the site, but none of Maximinus, we can be fairly certain that Maximinus was the commander of the operation, either as general or imperator.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[seth77]

15 minutes ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

Don't have one. Will have to get a provincial if I want to have Severus Alexander as a Caesar. Meanwhile here is a Severus Alexander sestertius of Rome.

Type: AE (Orichalcum) Sestertius, 29mm, 17.6 grams, Rome mint

Obverse: IMP SEV ALEXANDER AVG Laureate head of Alexander right

Reverse: VICTORIA AVGVSTI Victory Standing left, holding wreath and palm

Reference: RIC 618, Sear 8022, Cohen 569

The Victory may be celebrating the defeat of the Germans at the battle of Harzhorn, but historians are unsure about the exact date of the battle, which occurred either during the latter period of the reign of Alexander or the early part of the reign of Maximinus Thrax. Since coins of Alexander were found at the site, but none of Maximinus, we can be fairly certain that Maximinus was the commander of the operation, either as general or imperator.

 

 

As far as I know, these VICTORIA types were struck in 231, for the 'triumph' in the Eastern campaign against the Sassanians. If the battle of Harzhorn happened shortly before Alexander was assassinated or shortly after that and thus during the reign of Maximinus, a coin minted by Alexander for this battle is chronologically impossible. I think that what actually ties these coins to the battle is the fact that some have been found at the site, thus helping push the date of the battle to the last part of Alexander's reign, or probably under early Maximinus.

[seth77]

Another of the same type:

 

This one has a similar legend ΜΑΡ ΑΥΡΗΛΙΟϹ ΑΛƐΞΑΝΔΡΟϹ ΚƐC, which I like a lot. These obverse dies are so interesting with their spelling and transliteration KE or KEC for Caesar and the almost full name of Marcus Aurelius Alexander and unlike the Rome coinage, Antioch struck these more or less regularly in the second half of 221.

Edited January 24 by seth77
better image

[Curtis JJ]

SEV. ALEX. WITH RIVER GOD:

River gods may not be the most popular, but they do have a very dedicated fan-base! I saw at least two notable river-god or Flussgötter collections auctioned last year: "Dr. Michael Slavin" (sold at CNG) and Michel Thys (Jacquier 52, section of Münzen mit Flussgötter-Darstellungen [139]). F. Imhoof-Blumer seems to have been something of fan, too, having authored a 1923 book on them.

A similar type of Severus Alexander from Mesopotamia, Edessa, but unfortunately the river god was hardly recognizable on these (even if it wasn't in such rough condition!). I liked the star and crescent (?) on his shield, too (RPC's primary illustration shows it more clearly):

Mesopotamia, Edessa. Severus Alexander (Augustus) Æ (23.5mm, 9.87g, 12h), 222-235 CE.
Obv: ΑΥΤ Κ Μ Α CΕ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟC CΕΒ. Laureate bust left, holding eagle-tipped sceptre and shield.
Rev: ΜΗΤ ΚΟΛ ΕΔΕCCΗΝWΝ. Tyche seated left before altar, river god below; stars flanking in fields.
Ref: RPC VI 7811 (temporary), spec 2 (this coin) = wildwinds "digital plate coin" since 2001;
for type, see also: BMC Mesopotamia pg. 108, 109; Lindgren I 2583 (cf. also A2567A).
Prov: Ex M. Slavin coll., acq. by him from CNG c. 2001, w/ old tag. 

 

SEV. ALEX. AS CAESAR:

This is the only Sev. Alex. as Caesar that I'm seeing in my collection right now.

Bithynia Nikaia. Severus Alexander, as Caesar, AE (6h. 23mm, 6.21g), struck 222 CE.
Obv: Μ ΑΥΡ ΑΛƐΞΑΝΔΡΟϹ ΚΑΙ. Bare-headed, draped & cuirassed bust r., from rear.
Rev: ΝΙΚΑΙƐΩΝ. Athena standing, l., holding spear, patera over altar; shield on the ground.
Ref: RPC VI 3100 (Temp.), spec. 4 (this coin); Lindgren I 144.
Prov: Ex H.C. Lindgren Coll. (unpublished duplicate); Malloy MBS XXXIII (19 Jun 1992), Lot 376 (Plate XI)

 

SEV. ALEX. FROM ANTIOCH:

The coin below is a Severus Alexander from Antioch, but as Augustus, I believe.

Interesting because it's a Liberalitas type but supposedly no such "congiarium" / money-distribution was made at Antioch. So, oddly, celebrating a distribution in Rome? Odd choice for propaganda! Inspire envy among your Eastern subjects and legions, hoping that somehow inspires loyalty? Didn't work!

Roman Imperial. Severus Alexander AR Denarius (2.69g, 18mm, 6h), struck in Antioch, 223 CE.
Obv: IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG. Laureate, cuirassed & draped bust right, seen from behind.
Rev: LIBERALITAS AVG. Liberalitas draped, standing & holding abacus (?) and cornucopia.
Ref: RIC IV 281; BMCRE 1043; RSC 108b.
Prov: Ex AK Collection, purchased from Munzen & Medaillen AG, Basel, 1970 (prob. MMAG FPL 311 [Apr 1970], 285); CNG Triton XXI (7 January 2019), lot 805 (part of 94 coins, coin no. B083, in AK Supplement only); CNG EA 485 (10 Feb 2021), Lot 559, (corr., misdescribed & mistakenly encapsulated by NGC with incorrect label!).

Edited January 17 by Curtis JJ