Severus Alexander Silver Denarius, RIC IV Severus Alexander 23

Monetary Context and Reform

The emission of RIC IV Severus Alexander 23 in 223 AD occurred during an important stabilizing phase of Severan monetary policy. Following the assassination of Elagabalus in 222 AD, the imperial regency sought to re-establish administrative legitimacy and economic confidence. A central pillar of this reformist platform was the stabilization of the silver coinage. Under the early regency, guided by Julia Maesa and senatorial advisors, the production of the double denarius (antoninianus) was discontinued, re-establishing the traditional denarius as the singular workhorse denomination of Roman silver currency. Metallurgical studies demonstrate that the silver standard of the denarius was moderately increased during early 223 AD. The fineness, which had dipped beneath forty percent under Elagabalus, was raised toward forty-three to forty-six percent fine silver. The weight standard was simultaneously calibrated around an average benchmark of 3.0 to 3.1 grams, struck at a theoretical standard of approximately one hundred to one hundred and four pieces per Roman pound. This fiscal realignment served both practical and symbolic functions: it reassured the legions receiving their annual stipends and restored a degree of stability to the imperial pricing system, which was under persistent inflationary pressure.

Production and Mint Organization

All specimens of RIC IV Severus Alexander 23 were produced at the primary imperial mint situated in Rome. During the early 220s AD, the Rome mint was organized into a series of distinct operational workshops, commonly designated officinae by numismatists. While specific officina marks do not appear on denarii of this date, hoard analysis and die-link studies across contemporary reverse types suggest that five or six separate workshops operated concurrently to produce silver and bronze denominations. Workshop output was heavily rationalized, with distinct engravers assigned to specific thematic cycles, such as imperial vows, personifications of virtues, and military tutelary deities. Blanks were cast in spherical flan molds and struck cold or slightly warmed between hand-held upper dies and fixed lower anvil dies. Die alignment for Rome denarii in this period was generally set to regular axial relationships, typically oriented toward twelve o'clock or six o'clock, reflecting a high degree of standardized workshop oversight. The production of the Mars reverse series constituted a substantial portion of the Rome mint's silver output in early 223 AD, indicating regular, high-volume production for distribution through official imperial banking and treasury networks.

Obverse Portraiture and Style

The obverse of RIC IV Severus Alexander 23 presents a youthful portrait of Severus Alexander facing right. The emperor is depicted as laureate, with the laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck, and draped, wearing the paludamentum over a tunic. Sculpturally, this portrait belongs to the first major stylistic phase of Severus Alexander's reign, commonly referred to as his adolescent or youthful portrait style. Roman die cutters emphasized a smooth facial contour, a short, neat hairstyle combed forward across the forehead, and the absence of facial hair, underscoring the juvenile demeanor of an emperor who had ascended the throne at approximately thirteen years of age. Unlike the dramatic and sometimes idiosyncratic features found on portraits of his predecessor Elagabalus, the early coinage of Severus Alexander returned to an idealized, classicizing aesthetic deliberately evocative of Augustus and Marcus Aurelius. The relief is moderately raised, with delicate engraving evident in the leaf structure of the laurel crown and the folds of the imperial drapery across the truncation of the bust.

Reverse Iconography of Mars

The reverse of the type features the war god Mars standing facing left, dressed in complete military attire. Mars is depicted with a crested helmet, cuirass, and military tunic, holding an upright olive branch in his extended right hand while holding a spear in his left hand, pointed downward in the reversed position. This specific iconographic schema represents Mars Pacifer, or Mars the Peacebringer. Rather than appearing in an aggressive posture brandishing a shield, spear, and trophy as Mars Victor or Mars Ultor, the god is represented here in the act of maintaining or offering peace through victorious strength. The downward-pointing, reversed spear denotes that active combat has ceased or is held in abeyance, while the olive branch serves as the universal Greco-Roman symbol of concord and reconciliation. For the newly established imperial regime in 223 AD, this image served a vital communicative purpose: it assured both the civilian elite and the Roman populace that the imperial legions possessed unmatched military readiness, yet their ultimate purpose was the preservation of peace, domestic stability, and civic order.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The legends on RIC IV Severus Alexander 23 are carefully structured according to imperial epigraphic conventions. The obverse legend reads IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, representing the abbreviated formula Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus. This titulature established his formal continuity with the Antonine and Severan dynasties through the adoption of the prestigious names Marcus Aurelius and Severus. The lettering is characterized by clean, upright capital forms with petite serifs, executed by experienced Rome mint engravers. The reverse legend reads P M TR P II COS P P, an abbreviation of Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate Secunda, Consul, Pater Patriae. This sequence confirms his offices as chief priest of the Roman state religion, holder of tribunician sacrosanctity and legislative authority for the second time, consul, and father of the country. The precision of these titles provides absolute chronological certainty for the emission, as his second tribunician renewal and first consulship converged uniquely in the calendar year 223 AD.

Typology and Chronological Placement

In the standard classification of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Severus Alexander 23 is placed within the dated issues of the emperor's second tribunician year, spanning early to late 223 AD. The type belongs to a synchronized series of dated denarii that recorded Severus Alexander's annual constitutional prerogatives alongside varied deities and personifications, including Pax, Salus, and Jupiter. While other issues of the same year portray Mars advancing with a trophy and spear (such as RIC IV Severus Alexander 24), type 23 is strictly distinguished by Mars standing at rest facing left with an olive branch and reversed spear. The combination of the specific obverse legend ending in AVG and the draped bust without cuirass further separates this exact catalog entry from related bronze medallions or rare contemporary aurei. Typologically, RIC IV 23 forms an essential anchor point for numismatists constructing relative die sequences for the middle Severan period, as it captures the mint before later administrative changes modified the obverse legend to omit the praenomen or expand imperial titles.

Circulation, Hoards, and Deposition

Denarii of RIC IV Severus Alexander 23 circulated widely throughout the Roman Empire, performing regular monetary duties alongside earlier Severan, Antonine, and Flavian silver. Because their silver fineness was slightly higher than the degraded issues of 218 to 222 AD, they were favored in market transactions and frequently hoarded. Extensive numismatic documentation reveals that specimens of this type appear consistently in major third-century coin hoards across Britannia, Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian provinces. In hoards such as the Dorchester hoard and the Shapwick hoard, denarii of 223 AD are regularly recorded in high-grade or lightly worn condition, reflecting either prompt burial shortly after arrival or prolonged retention in regional currency pools. The type remained active in imperial circulation for several decades, gradually becoming worn and occasionally clipped, until the catastrophic hyper-inflation and massive debasement of the 250s and 260s AD caused pre-reform denarii to be permanently hoarded, melted down, or driven out of public circulation by bronze-rich radiates.

References

1. The Chalfont Hoard and other Roman Coin Hoards. pp. 45-68
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume VI: Severus Alexander to Balbinus and Pupienus. pp. 118-121
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Severus Alexander 23. ric.4.sa.23
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 72, no. 23
5. The Metrology of the Roman Silver Coinage, Part III: From Pertinax to Uranius Antoninus. pp. 71-85