Severus Alexander Silver Denarius RIC IV Severus Alexander 170

Monetary Context and Denominational Background

The accession of Severus Alexander in AD 222 marked a critical stabilization phase for the Roman imperial monetary system following the administrative turbulence of Elagabalus. Under Alexander and his mother, Julia Mamaea, the imperial government enacted financial reforms aimed at restoring confidence in traditional coin denominations. Central to this policy was the renewed dominance of the silver denarius as the principal silver currency unit of the empire. The double denarius, or antoninianus, which had been introduced by Caracalla in AD 215 and maintained erratically under Macrinus and Elagabalus, was suspended early in Alexander's reign. This left the standard denarius as the primary silver denomination produced at the mint of Rome. The denarius catalogued as RIC IV Severus Alexander 170 represents this period of monetary retrenchment. During the AD 220s, the imperial treasury maintained the denarius at an average weight standard of roughly 3.1 to 3.2 grams, continuing the metallurgical composition established in the later years of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Chemical and metallurgical assays of third-century silver indicate that the Severan denarius maintained an average fineness ranging between 40 and 45 percent silver, with the remainder composed primarily of copper and trace metallic impurities. This monetary standard provided the state with necessary liquidity to pay military stipends and bureaucratic salaries while projecting an image of traditional fiscal rectitude.

Production Standards and Mint Organization

The manufacture of RIC IV Severus Alexander 170 took place exclusively at the primary imperial mint in Rome. During the early third century AD, the Rome mint was a highly structured industrial enterprise organized into multiple officinae, or workshops, each responsible for specific denominations and reverse types. Surviving dies and stylistic studies demonstrate that die-cutters at Rome adhered to rigorous aesthetic conventions, producing standardized portraits of the young emperor and refined personifications of divine virtues. Blank planchets were cast in multi-cavity moulds, adjusted for weight, and struck while hot between two hand-engraved bronze dies. The lower die, set into an anvil, held the obverse portrait, which absorbed the greatest physical stress, while the upper die held the reverse type and received the direct blow of the hammer. The physical standard for this issue shows minor variability typical of ancient hand-hammered production, with recorded diameters generally falling between 18 and 20 millimeters. Die alignment on Severan denarii produced at Rome typically clusters around the six o'clock or twelve o'clock positions, reflecting deliberate die orientation by the mint workers. No provincial or eastern branch mints have been attested for this specific catalogue type, distinguishing it from eastern issues struck early in the reign.

Obverse Portraiture and Typology

The obverse of RIC IV Severus Alexander 170 presents a right-facing bust of Severus Alexander, laureate and draped. The portraiture belongs to the earliest stylistic group of the reign, depicting Alexander as an adolescent or young man. His facial features are smooth and idealized, reflecting his youth upon ascending the throne at approximately thirteen years of age. The laurel wreath, tied at the back of the head with two falling ribbon ties, symbolizes imperial majesty and military command, despite the peaceful, domestic nature of his early administration. The drapery is carefully rendered across the shoulder and chest, showing the folds of the paludamentum or imperial cloak over a tunic. Die studies across surviving examples demonstrate subtle variations in the treatment of the hair curls, the fullness of the cheek, and the configuration of the drapery folds. Unlike later issues of the reign, which depict Alexander with a light adolescent beard or a mature countenance, this early type preserves the clean-shaven, youthful visage characteristic of his portraiture from AD 222 through the mid-220s.

Reverse Iconography and Religious Symbolism

The reverse iconography of RIC IV Severus Alexander 170 illustrates the personification of Pietas, draped and standing facing left. Pietas raises her right hand open over a low, lighted sacrificial altar placed at her feet, while her left hand cradles an acerra, a small rectangular box used to hold grains of incense during sacred rites. She wears a long stola and palla, rendered in soft, descending folds, projecting modest and dignified female comportment in accordance with classical Roman religious ideals. This specific composition of Pietas sacrificing at an altar was an established iconographic motif in Roman imperial coinage, previously utilized under Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and the female members of the Severan dynasty. In the context of Severus Alexander's reign, the image carried profound political and ideological meaning. It explicitly repudiated the religious innovations and perceived foreign decadence associated with his predecessor, Elagabalus, who had attempted to supplant Jupiter Optimus Maximus with the Syrian sun god Elagabal. By depicting Pietas offering incense in accordance with the mos maiorum, the coin reassured the Roman populace and the Senate that ancestral religious duties and divine favor had been restored.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The obverse inscription reads IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, representing the contracted formula Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus. The legend begins at the lower left and runs continuously clockwise around the flan perimeter. The nomenclature connects the young emperor directly to the prestigious Severan lineage and the adoptive Antonine dynasty, invoking the names of both Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus to reinforce dynastic legitimacy. The lettering is neat and regular, executed in classical Roman capital script with tall, narrow letterforms typical of the Rome mint in the early third century AD. The reverse inscription is the brief formula PIETAS AVG, abbreviating Pietas Augusti, or the Piety of the Emperor. Positioned circumferentially around the figure of Pietas, the legend attributes the moral quality directly to the imperial person and office. Unlike dated reverse types from this reign, which list Alexander's tribunician power, consulship, and imperial salutations, the legend PIETAS AVG deliberately emphasizes a timeless imperial virtue rather than a specific chronological milestone.

Typological Classification and Chronological Placement

Within the typology established in Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Severus Alexander 170 is catalogued among the undated silver denarii struck at Rome during the first half of Alexander's reign. The standard chronological assignment for this type spans from AD 222 to AD 228. This range is determined primarily through portrait progression and legend evolution. In AD 222, Alexander adopted the obverse legend IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, which he retained as his primary title until around AD 228, when a shorter obverse legend, IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, began to supersede it on many issues. RIC 170 is distinguished from related Pietas issues by both its legends and its specific iconographic arrangement. While female members of the dynasty, such as Julia Mamaea and Julia Maesa, also featured Pietas types on their coinages, RIC 170 is struck under the direct authority and portraiture of the emperor himself. Neighboring denarius types in the catalogue feature different divine personifications or alternate postures of Pietas, such as seated figures or Pietas holding children. RIC 170 remains the precise designation for the standing, sacrificing figure with incense box and altar paired with Alexander's early imperial title.

Hoard Evidence and Monetary Circulation

Silver denarii of RIC IV Severus Alexander 170 entered extensive circulation throughout the provinces and military garrisons of the Roman Empire. Archaeological evidence from major third-century hoards demonstrates that denarii of Severus Alexander were struck in substantial volumes and circulated heavily alongside earlier issues of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Hoard deposits across Britain, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian provinces regularly contain specimens of this type, indicating widespread distribution through military pay and regional commerce. Because Alexander ceased large-scale production of the antoninianus during this phase, his denarii bore the primary burden of medium-value commercial transactions for over a decade. When Gordian III revived the antoninianus in AD 238, older denarii remained in parallel circulation, though Gresham's Law and subsequent debasements gradually drove earlier, finer silver pieces out of active use. Hoard evidence shows that denarii of this type continued to circulate until the mid-third century AD, when the catastrophic debasements of Decius, Trebonianus Gallus, and Valerian eventually led to the widespread hoarding or melting of Severan silver.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. VI: Severus Alexander to Balbinus and Pupienus. Severus Alexander, Rome mint
2. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 125-132
3. Coining Images of Power: Representations of Severan Emperors on Imperial Coinage. pp. 145-160
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 83, no. 170
5. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Severus Alexander 170. Type ric.4.sa.170