March 13th: the MOMMY'S BOY on the throne.

Severus Alexander was promoted from Caesar to Augustus March 13th 222 AD at the age of 13 years old, after the murder of his cousin, Elagabalus. His thirteen (it's a lot of "13" in two sentences...) years of reign were marked by great economic prosperity, and he enjoyed great success against the barbarian tribes. He could be called a mommy's boy; Julia Mamaea , his mother, was the real power in the empire, controlling her son's policies and even his personal life with great authority. The Emperor and his mother embarked in a campaign in Germany in 234 AD, to deal with a series of Germanic incursions across the Rhine. A large army was concentrated near Mainz, and a crossing of the Rhine was planned. Severus, however, decided to attempt to negotiate a peace treaty with the Germans. The legions saw this act as an act of Imperial cowardice, and, already chaffing over Mamaea's imperious manner, broke out into open mutiny, and finally killed Alexander and his mother.

Musée le Louvre, Paris

Alexander attempted to reform the coinage somewhat during his reign, and increased the issue of dupondii while stopping mysteriously the production of antoninianii (it's a lot of "i" in one word). Portraits dating from the first years of his reign are those if a young boy. Later portraits show the steady development of adult features and even the growth of a beard. In contrast of his cousin, he showed little outward affection for his Syrian ancestors' homeland asides from the continued and prominent veneration of the sun-god Sol.


Sestertius, SOL raising hand & holding whip

In consequence of his centralist inclinations the once-important provincial mint of his apparently closed within a year or two of his accession to the throne. Most of the time, the denarii of Antioch will feature a star in the reverse field, which is an early form of mintmark.
Annona is a very popular theme in his coinage. It seems that the delivery system for North African grain was transformed in some manner, maybe involving the regulation of the ship-owners and merchants guilds.


As, Annona holding corn-ears and anchor, modius at feet

The changing of Imperial emphasis from expanding the frontiers to simply defending them is demonstrated in the appearance of Jupiter Stator (Jupiter, the stayer of flight), a highly defensive manifestation of that deity.


Denarius, Jupiter Stator

Regarding the aureus, we can notice a regular and continuous reduction in weight between the years 193-215 AD: from 7.25g to 6.5g. Then from 6.5g to 3.6g between 215 and 251 AD; however under the reign of Severus Alexander, we note significant variations in weight since he made strike aurei weighting between 5.38 and 7.25g ...
During the time he was Emperor, the weight of the sestertius was variable to the point that it often became indistinguishable with the dupondius. The dupondius , as you know, was easily recognizable by its exclusive use of the radiate crown but laureate bronzes in the 11-14g zone are of ambiguous denomination. Theoretically, it should have been easy to distinguish the pure copper of the as with the bright brassy orichalcum alloy used for the larger coins. But by the 3rd century, very little high quality orichalcum was being use; so this last differentiating characteristic was inapplicable. So how can we resolve the problem? Taking into consideration that the average weight of the dupondius is around 11.7g, many experts consider an arbitrary weight of 12g is reasonable to separate the two; anything about this weight being a de facto sestertius and anything below an as irrespective of design.

We can find a very wide variety in Severus Alexander's coinage, and he is also one of the most affordable Emperors to collect. So on the day he wore the purple, please show me your "mommy's boy" examples !

 

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Calling for our favorite mommy's boy, @Severus Alexander.

SEVERUS ALEXANDER
AR Denarius. 2.96g, 19.2mm. Rome mint, AD 230. RIC 105 var. (no drapery); RSC 401. O: IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate head right, slight drapery on shoulder. R: P M TR P VIIII COS III P P, Emperor standing right with spear and globe.
Ex Michael Kelly Collection


SEVERUS ALEXANDER
Potin Tetradrachm. 14.14g, 23.2mm. EGYPT, Alexandria, RY 2 (AD 222/223). RPC Online Temp #10249; Emmett 3139.2; Dattari (Savio) 4373. O: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. R: Tyche standing facing, head left, holding rudder and cornucopia; L B (date) to upper left.
Ex Hermanubis Collection

 

I wonder what @Severus Alexander would say about being called a mommas boy?... and of course would love to see his examples
Here's my Severus Alexander... Mashup:

 

I’ll have to keep a count of how many times @Severus Alexander gets tagged in this thread before he responds... 3

Here is my favorite @Severus Alexander (4).


Roman Empire
Severus Alexander
AR Denarius, Antioch mint, struck ca. AD 222-235
Dia.: 18 mm
Wt.: 3.35 g
Obv.: IMP C AVR ALEXAND AVG; Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: PROVID DEORVM; Providentia standing left, holding wand over globe and sceptre
Ref.: RIC 294
Ex arnoldoe Collection, Ex Otto Helbing Nachfolger 86, Lot 1585 (Nov. 25, 1942)

 

Maybe not tonight. I believe people go early to bed in Kelowna BC. In the meantime, why not trying to set a new CT world record ? Here it is :
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Here are a couple of bronzes of Sev and his boss:


Julia Mamaea, AE Sestertius (30mm., 20.27g.), Draped bust r., wearing stephane. Rev. Felicitas standing l., holding caduceus and leaning on column. RIC 676.


Severus Alexander, AE sestertius. (28mm, 19.2g.), Rome, 235 AD. Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right./ Rev. Sol standing left with whip. RIC 538.

 

Severus Alexander Av Aureus 230 AD Obv Bust right drapery on far shoulder. Rv. Romulus advancing right holding spear at the ready and carrying a trophy over his shoulder. RIC 103 5.84 grms 21 mm Photo by W. Hansen Severus Alexander should be about 20 years old when this coin was minted but is it rather interesting that despite his portrait not having any of the military accoutrements such as a cuirass it does have an overall military feel. The image of Severus displays many of the features of the later soldier emperors with his slight beard and close cropped hair. Once more the reverse show Romulus or perhaps Romulus/Alexander advancing in military garb with a spear at the ready and a trophy of victory over his shoulder. This coin should predate the war with Persia which appears to start in 231 AD however it is possible that it was a response to growing concerns that he was feeble and unable to rule effectively.

 

SEVERUS ALEXANDER


RI
Severus Alexander
222-235 CE
AR Denarius
laureate
Victory stndg VOT shield foot on helmet
RIC 219

 

46

 

Sestertius of Alexander with reverse of Mars.




Denarius of Alexander with Providentia reverse.



Sestertius with same reverse of Providentia.



Sestertius of Alexander with I believe Sol on reverse.

 

Great write-up, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix! Handsome coins, too!

Severus Alexander's attempts to improve the currency are attested by dupondii with the legends RESTITVTOR MON (Restitutor Monetae) and MON RESTITVTA (Moneta Restituta) issued in AD 228. Here is an example of such a dupondius from my own collection:


Severus Alexander, AD 222-235.
Roman orichalchum dupondius, 10.47 g, 24.7 mm, 12 h.
Rome, special issue, AD 228.
Obv: IMP SEV ALEXANDER AVG, radiate bust, right, with slight drapery on left shoulder.
Rev: RESTITVTOR MON S C, Emperor in military dress, standing front, head left, extending right hand and holding vertical reversed spear in left hand.
Refs: RIC 601; BMCRE 546-550; Cohen 517; RCV 8052.

Yep!

Severus Alexander, AD 222-235.
Roman AR denarius, 2.95 g, 19.4 mm, 1 h.
Rome, issue 12, AD 231.
Obv: IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate head, right, with drapery on left shoulder.
Rev: ANNONA AVG, Annona standing left, holding corn-ears in right hand over modius at feet and holding anchor in left hand.
Refs: RIC 188; BMCRE 674-76; RSC 29a; RCV 7859.

And here's the mommy's boy with his mommy.

Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea, AD 222-235.
Roman provincial Æ pentassarion, 10.1 g, 25.7 mm, 5 h.
Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, magistrate Umbrius Tereventinus, AD 226-227.
Obv: ΑVΓ ΚΜ Α[VΡ CΕVΗ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟC ΚΑΙ] ΙΟVΛΙΑ ΜΑΜΑΙΑ, confronted busts.
Rev: ΗΓ Ȣ [ΤΕΡΕΒΕΝΤΙΝΟV ΜΑΡ]ΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤ-ΩΝ, Dikaiosyne standing l., holding scales and cornucopiae, E (5) in field, r.
Refs: AMNG --; Moushmov --; Varbanov --; BMC --; Sear --; SNG Cop --; SNG von Aulock --; Lindgren --.

 

Oi, hold yer horses! My momma whacks my bum every time I get tagged and don't respond, guys!!

Great post and thread, though, I must admit.

My theory is that Sev Alex was a good emperor, ruling on the advice of his family and his large advisory council, but that the army's misogynistic attitude towards his mother made them paint his every action in a bad light towards the end. Tragic story!

Hard to know what to post here, I have so many.

A denarius as Caesar:



Accession issue As:


Sestertius with a youthful portrait:


Antioch denarius (no star, though):


Medallion (size of an As):


Cool quadriga As:


Check out the 'stache!


Rare Profectio As:


"Pseudo-medallion", As-sized die on a carefully prepared sestertius sized flan, probably a New Year's presentation piece upon receiving his third tribunician power:


And finally, a double-portrait Alexandrian tetradrachm (dies produced in Rome):

 

I wrote about this issue in another post back in January. What I wrote is just so great I will repeat it here.

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How to tell the difference between a light sestertius and a heavy As?
Obviously the radiate crown allows us to identify the dupondii. For AE As vs. sestertius, the die diameter should make it pretty clear. At least for SA (and I suspect the surrounding reigns):

As die diameter: 23.5-25mm
Sestertius die diameter: 28-30mm​

*Note that this is the diameter of the die not the diameter of the coin! The die diameter is measured from the very outside of the circle/dots/denticles on the edge of the die.

With sestertii that are a bit short on flan, you have to guesstimate how large the die is, but it's usually possible to do this within the required range of tolerance. You can usually tell where the edge of the letters will be, and often some of the circle/dotted circle is visible too. Since there's quite a gap between the two die sizes it's pretty hard to get it wrong.

Examples:


This coin is 27mm and 16.05g, but is obviously seriously short on flan. The die diameter is at least 28mm, so it's a sestertius. (It was incorrectly labeled an As by the seller.)


This coin is 29mm(!) and 15.32g, but the die diameter is only 24.5mm. Definitely an AE As.

In general I don't think we pay enough attention to die diameter!

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In that connection, I love your chunky Annona PROVIDENTIA As, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix!!

 

Severus Alexander. A.D. 222-235. AR denarius
RIC 173, AD 222-228
Obverse Legend: IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG
Type: Bust of Severus Alexander, laureate, draped, right
Portrait: Severus Alexander
Reverse Legend: PROVIDENTIA AVG
Type: Providentia, draped, standing left, holding wand in right hand and sceptre in left hand ; at feet, a globe

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25 mm , 5,26 g, from Troas, Alexandreia.

Obverse inscription M AV S ALEXANDRV (sic)
Obverse design Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus Alexander, r. Reverse inscription […] COL AVG TROA
Reverse design Apollo nude standing, l., placing foot on pedestal, holding laurel branch

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30 mm, 17,7 g
RIC IV Severus Alexander 618
Severus Alexander AE Sestertius. AD 231. IMP SEV ALEXANDER AVG, laureate head right, slight drapery on far shoulder / VICTORIA AVGVSTI, Victory winged standing left, holding wreath and palm. S-C across lower fields. Cohen 569.

Mother and grandmother in action

 

Great examples everyone!
All in the Family...coins

 

Lovely write up again. Here are mine:

 

I have a couple. SA's provincial coins are rather on the cheap side, you can get a comparably sized 4-assarion (or whatever) for 1/3 the price of a sestertius, usually.

AE26 5-assarion? coiled snake from Tomis


AE23 4-assarion? with my favorite reverse type of all time - artemis with little puppy.


Sestertius with Romulus on the rev.