Severus Alexander Denarius RIC IV Severus Alexander 153

Monetary and Fiscal Context

Upon the accession of Severus Alexander in AD 222, the Roman imperial monetary system faced structural strains accumulated across the Severan era. Successive debasements under Septimius Severus and Caracalla, followed by the erratic fiscal policies of Elagabalus, had reduced the denarius to a billon denomination of roughly 40 to 45 percent silver purity. Severus Alexander's administration, closely directed by his mother Julia Mamaea and senior equestrian and senatorial advisors, chose to stabilize the denarius rather than expand the double-denarius (antoninianus), which was temporarily suspended from regular production. The issue catalogued as RIC IV Severus Alexander 153 was struck within this conservative fiscal posture. Denarii formed the backbone of everyday urban commerce, military pay, and imperial benefactions. The reverse type specifically advertises Liberalitas Augusti II, denoting the second formal distribution of cash subsidies or grain tokens to the plebs urbana and donatives to the military, an essential political mechanism for securing civic legitimacy and military fidelity.

Production Standards and Minting

The entire attested run of RIC IV Severus Alexander 153 originated at the primary imperial mint of Rome. Operating across multiple officinae, the mint manufactured denarii on carefully prepared circular flans using manual two-die striking techniques. Specimens conform to the broader metrological standard of Severus Alexander's initial years, typically exhibiting weights clustered between 2.8 and 3.4 grams, with median values around 3.1 grams and diameters averaging 18 to 20 millimeters. The die alignment predominantly exhibits the standard Roman imperial upright or slightly off-axis orientation (roughly 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock). Silver content remained stable compared to the issues of Elagabalus, without the erratic debasement swings observed in later third-century issues. The high volume of surviving specimens across museum holdings and hoards confirms that production was sustained across several workshop divisions within the urban mint.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse features a youthful portrait of Severus Alexander facing right. The emperor is depicted wearing a laurel wreath, tied at the occiput with hanging ribbons, and draped over the shoulders. This early portraiture emphasizes juvenile yet serene facial features, avoiding the severe military styling adopted by Caracalla or the later barrack emperors. Instead, the rendering aligns with classical Julio-Claudian and Antonine visual models, projecting moderation, legitimacy, and continuity under dynastic guidance. The carving of the bust is executed in neat, disciplined relief characteristic of Rome's central engravers during the early AD 220s, with fine details rendered in the hair curls, wreath ties, and textile folds across the truncation.

Reverse Iconography

The reverse iconography is dedicated to Liberalitas, the personification of imperial generosity. She stands facing left, draped in a stola and palla that fall in rhythmic vertical folds to her feet. In her extended right hand she holds an abacus (also interpreted as a tessera or counting board pierced with holes to measure coins for distribution), while her left arm cradles a full cornucopia overflowing with fruits, symbolising imperial abundance. This dual attribute scheme had been codified during the high empire to visualize both the calculated fairness of the imperial gift and the material prosperity overflowing from the princeps. The composition is flanked by the circular legend LIBERALITAS AVG II, perfectly balancing the vertical axis formed by the personification's stance.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The obverse inscription reads IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, an abbreviation of Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus. This formulaic legend asserts Alexander's full adopted and imperial nomenclature, deliberately linking his public persona to both the Severan house and the revered memory of Marcus Aurelius. The reverse inscription reads LIBERALITAS AVG II, expanding to Liberalitas Augusti II (the second liberality of the Augustus). Letterforms are regular, sharp, and cut with inward-facing orientations along the beaded border. The Roman numeral II distinguishes this striking from the initial accession congiarium (Liberalitas Augusti) and the subsequent third and fourth liberalitates celebrated later in his reign.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham placed RIC IV Severus Alexander 153 in the bracket of AD 222 to 228 based on obverse titulature and the known dates of Severus Alexander's liberalitates. Because the legend IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG was replaced from AD 228 onward by shorter formulations such as IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, this type must predate that epigraphic shift. Historical documentation and numismatic sequences indicate that Alexander's second largesse occurred early in the reign, around AD 224 or 225, though denarii commemorating the event may have been struck consecutively across several calendar years. While closely related bronze sestertii and dupondii were issued with identical reverse motifs and the addition of S C, the denarius type RIC 153 is distinguished by its specific combination of the early obverse legend, right-facing laureate and draped bust, and the unadorned reverse field.

Circulation, Hoards, and Archaeological Context

Specimens of RIC IV Severus Alexander 153 circulated extensively throughout the western provinces, northern frontier garrisons along the Rhine and Danube, and the central Mediterranean. Due to the high purchasing power of the denarius relative to bronze coinage, these pieces were frequently accumulated in savings deposits during the political convulsions of the mid-third century. They routinely appear in massive European hoards, such as the Shapwick and Dorchester deposits in Britain and various mid-third-century hoards across Gaul, Germany, and the Balkans. Because Severus Alexander's denarii retained an acceptable silver standard, they continued to circulate alongside earlier Severan pieces until the wholesale transition to the radiating antoninianus under Gordian III and Decius gradually displaced them into hoards and remelting vats.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. VI: Severus Alexander to Balbinus and Pupienus. pp. 132-134
2. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 125-132
3. Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Coinage (A.D. 193-284). pp. 95-102
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Severus Alexander 153. ric.4.sa.153
5. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 83, no. 153