An unlikely pairing of titles for Severus Alexander in the East

[seth77]

This coin should be early in Severus Alexander's reign:

AR19mm 3.11g denarius minted at Antioch, c. 223.
IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG Laureate and draped bust of Severus Alexander to right, seen from behind
PONTIF MAX TR P II COS II P P; Roma seated to left, holding Victory and spear; shield below.
RIC IV-2 271

The reverse legend would be an impossibility, dating this coin to both 223 and 226 at the same time. TR P II is not compatible with COS II for Alexander, since his COS II would have been TR P V. The note for RIC 271 p. 91 is 'a possible hybrid with a reverse of Elagabal.' -- but this exact reverse for Elagabal is rather scarce. The appearance indicates either a low quality billon (not unusual at this point for Antioch -- possibly as deniers might have been struck in the billon that had usually been used for the tetradrachms discontinued under Elagabal) or a 'limes' variant. There is also a regular TR P II COS PP issue (RIC 270) for Alexander, which in turn hints that we deal in this case with an irregular issue. The fact that there are a number of coins showing this peculiarity together with the scarcity of this coinage for Elagabal indicates that it is not a mule.

Now, the denarii of Antioch for Alexander are a sort of a peculiarity. They seem to be a continuation of the Imperial coinage introduced under Elagabal, possibly after the discontinuation of the tetradrachm. Most are dated thanks to consular and tribunicia potestas numbers to 222 and 223, very early in Alexander's reign. 

They also seem to be the result of the mint that was doing the local AE currency, as seen below:



AE31mm 19.35g orichalcum multiple, minted c. 222-5.
ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ Μ Α ϹΕΟΥ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟϹ ϹΕΒ; laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus Alexander, right, seen from front
ΑΝΤΙΟXEΩΝ ΜΗΤΡ 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; Δ - E and S - C flanking Tyche
McAlee 825a/826; RPC VI, 8061 (temporary)

The similarities in portrait style are striking and the overall style of engraving, including the small serifed lettering, the proportions and the perspective of the Imperial effigy: the very young almost child-like emperor seen from back in the identical pose showing him laureate, draped and cuirassed underneath, all indicate that both the denarii and the sestertius-sized AEs might come from the same workshop, or at least as results of dies cut by the same set of hands.

[maridvnvm]

Here are couple of my Antioch issues that are relevant to this thread.

Obv:– IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAN AVG, Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right
Rev:– P M TR P II COS, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder set on globe and cornucopia; star to left
Minted in Antioch, Issue 3, A.D. 223
Reference(s) – RIC IV 268 var (obverse legend, normal legend is C). RSC 237 var (same)

RIC makes mention of a coin of the same type from the previous issue (Issue 2) being known with ALEXAN but I cannot find this in BMCRE. Another example but from a different die pair sold by CNG in 2009

Obv:- IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:- PONTIF MAX TRP II COS II PP, Roma seated left on a throne, holding Victory in her right hand and a reversed spear in her left, a shield rests on the ground beside the throne
Minted in Antioch. A.D. 223.
Reference:– RIC 271 (S). RSC 470

Decent silver.

And a similar but "PONTIF MAX TRP II COS I P" where PP seems to be rendered IP bus id probably a compromise due to a lack of space.

Edited December 26, 2024 by maridvnvm

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Interesting hypothesis and a historically important coin.

[CPK]

Interesting coin!