Severus Alexander.. 222-235 AD

Hello friends,
Today I want to present my first coin acquisition for 2021. I visited a coin and collectables gallery I frequent owned by Carl Burnstein here in Manhattan NYC. I purchased this Severus Alexander 222-235 AD.

I need a little help to determine which Providentia Reverse is represented.

Thank you for your help..
Yes.. This is really paddyman98


Not much information on his flip..

 

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Paddyman98 is that really you..nice crown..high school sweetheart on the reverse...new diggin partner...

 

TBH it's hard for me to read the obverse legend. I did a quick wildwinds and OCRE search and couldn't find a Severus Alexander with a PROVENDIA AVGVSTI reverse.

I'm gonna keep looking.

FWIW - The obverse looks to start with IMP CAES

I like that coin. You should stay on the ancients side. Way better company than some of the moderns

 

Could it possibly be a dupondius of Gordian III?

Edit: Nevermind, it would seem that there are no dupondii of Gordian III with the same reverse lettering.

 

I've been through Caracalla, Elagabalus, and Severus Alexander. G3 was next on the list haha

 

Nice coin for sure.

 

I think you can cross Phillip II off of the list of possibilities as well.

 

Perhaps it's Severus Alexander MONETA AVGVSTI S C (RIC IV.2# 587) https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces90740.html

 

I thought it may be a MONETA AVGVSTI reverse as well. The obverse doesn't match though.

 

I saw and clicked on your post right away, thinking you found an ancient coin! But no....

 

metal detecting in NYC just got a whole lot more interesting

 

I read MONETA AVGVSTI but that comes as a sestertius but not dupondius?

 

I don't have time to check RIC at the moment, but this is right in my wheelhouse. Yes, it's MONETA AVGVSTI, which does indeed (rarely) come as a dupondius. There's a pile of coins under the scale she's holding. The obverse legend will be IMP CAES M AVR SEV ALEXANDER AVG.

Great coin - one of my only specialty subcollections is Sev Alex middle bronzes, and I don't have that one! PM me if you're willing to part with it!

 

...what the man said!

 

It's unlisted in RIC as a dupondius. (As we saw above RIC 587 is a sestertius, 588 is an as.) It's listed in ERIC as #782 (one example sold on ebay in 2010). Definitely rare!

 

Interesting coin. I don't see many dupondii from Severus Alexander. I would be interested in hearing what it weighs.

Here is an ugly one that is similar - a 14.70 grams as (Curtis Clay helped me out on this one, said it was an as). There is a terrific thead on these started by Roman Collector:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/severus-alexanders-dupondius-reform-of-ad-228.352318/


Severus Alexander Æ As
(c. 222-228 A.D.)
Rome Mint
IMP CAES M AVR SEV ALEX[ANDER AVG] laureate, draped, bust right / [LIBERALITAS?] AVGVST SC, (Liberalitas/Moneta?), standing left, holding [coin counter / scales?] and cornucopiae.
RIC 569 or 588 (?).
(14.70 grams / 27 x 25 mm)
eBay Feb. 2020 Lot @ $1.50

Attribution Note:
I posted this on CT 02/28/20, Curtis Clay confirmed it is an As.
Reverse is hard to determine, "AVGVST" is visible to right, which leaves:
RIC 569 (Liberalitas) AVGVST
RIC 588 (Moneta) AVGVSTI

Here is an as that weighs 13 grams (!?). The middle bronzes of this era are baffling to me. It might be a very low-weight sestertius.


Severus Alexander Æ As
(231-235 A.D.)
Rome Mint
ALEXANDER PIVS AVG, laureate head right, slight drapery on left shoulder / PROVIDENTIA AVG, Providentia standing left by modius, holding corn-ears and cornucopiae. S-C across fields.
RIC 644b; Cohen 504.
(13.96 grams / 26 mm)

Here's Providentia in a heavy (24+ grams) sestertius:


Severus Alexander Æ Sestertius
(231-235 A.D.)
Rome Mint
IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG laureate bust rt., draped far shoulder / PROVIDENTIA AVG, S-C, Providentia draped standing left by modius, holding grain ears and cornucopiae.
RIC 642b; Cohen 503.
(24.06 grams / 30 mm)

 

Wow.. I'm just surprised that we have a CoinTalk member with your name! .. Glad you like it.

 

BMC 206*, pl. 7, publishes a dupondius of Severus Alexander like Paddyman's, from the same rev. die (MONETA AVGVSTI S C), which is in the Vatican collection.

 

Way to go @paddyman98

 

I figured it would be in BMC. I need to get that volume!

Here are some of my SA dupondii:


Rare accession liberality issue, 10.02g 23mm (not in RIC with this bust type, BMC 7 note)


RIC 609, same obverse legend as the OP (only found earlier in the reign), 12.24g 25mm


RIC 646, my current avatar coin; 12.80g, 26mm


RIC 601, 11.06g, 25mm



RIC 629, 12.50g, 24mm

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!