Severus Alexander Silver Denarius, RIC IV Severus Alexander 156

Monetary Context and Reform

The emission of RIC IV Severus Alexander 156 occurred during a pivotal phase of early third-century Roman monetary history. Following the assassination of Elagabalus in AD 222, the accession of Severus Alexander brought administrative oversight dominated by his mother, Julia Mamaea, and a council of prominent jurists. The imperial administration sought to stabilize the silver coinage, which had undergone progressive debasement throughout the Severan period. While the double denarius or antoninianus had been minted in large volumes under Caracalla and Elagabalus, Severus Alexander halted the regular production of that denomination early in his reign, refocusing imperial silver output on the traditional denarius. Numismatic analyses indicate that the denarii of this issue adhere to an average target weight of roughly 3.1 grams, struck at an alloy containing roughly forty-three to forty-eight percent silver. In practical monetary terms, the denarius served as the standard unit of state accounting, domestic trade, bureaucratic salaries, and military stipends, functioning as the primary transactional bridge between base metal bronze coinage and gold aurei.

Minting Authority and Production at Rome

All standard specimens catalogued under RIC IV Severus Alexander 156 were produced exclusively by the imperial mint in Rome. During the early years of Severus Alexander's principate, the mint operated under a highly structured system of officinae, or workshop divisions. Scholars typically identify six active officinae handling silver coinage in this era, each tasked with striking distinct reverse motifs concurrently to track production quotas and maintain die accounting. The production technique involved casting blank flans from alloyed silver ingots, heating them, and hand-striking them between engraved bronze or iron dies. The obverse portrait was rendered in high relief by master die-engravers, while reverse dies show consistent adherence to official iconographic patterns. The volume of production for this type was substantial, as demonstrated by the high survival rate of surviving dies and specimens across modern museum collections and archaeological finds throughout the Roman world.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Severus Alexander 156 presents a youthful, right-facing portrait of the emperor. The portrait is laureate, displaying the laurel wreath secured with ties hanging at the back of the neck, and draped, with mantle folds clearly rendered over the imperial shoulders. In contemporary mint practice, die sinkers occasionally varied the drapery slightly, sometimes showing drapery over the far shoulder or combining it with elements of a cuirass, though the standard classification specifies a draped bust. Severus Alexander is depicted with smooth, idealized facial features characteristic of his early adolescence, capturing the portrait style that predominated before his assumption of a light beard in the late 220s AD. This artistic treatment conveyed modesty, youth, and legitimate dynastic continuity while consciously distancing his public image from the flamboyant styling of his immediate predecessor.

Reverse Iconography: Libertas Augusta

The reverse field features the draped personification of Libertas standing facing toward the left. In her right hand, she extends the pileus, the brimless felt cap traditionally presented to freed enslaved persons during the ceremony of manumission, serving as Rome's quintessential symbol of emancipation and constitutional freedom. In her left arm, she cradles a horn of plenty or cornucopiae, overflowing with fruits and grains to signify the material prosperity that accompanies peace and civic liberty. The design reflects an enduring imperial trope revived during moments of dynastic transition: by associating the concept of liberty with the reigning emperor through the legend LIBERTAS AVG, the coin declares that true constitutional freedom is guaranteed by the benevolent stewardship of the Augustus. This motif deliberately addressed senatorial anxieties, reassuring the traditional elite of their restored prerogatives and the reign of law.

Epigraphic Analysis and Titulature

The obverse legend reads IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, expanding epigraphically to Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus. This title represents the earliest standard formulation used by the imperial administration for Severus Alexander, combining the supreme military title Imperator with his adopted Severan lineage and the honorific Augustus. Notably, this legend omits specific iterated magistracies such as the tribunician power, consulship, or the title Pater Patriae, indicating a general dynastic formula characteristic of the early portion of the reign. On the reverse, the inscription LIBERTAS AVG is an abbreviation for Libertas Augusti or Libertas Augusta, signifying the liberty of the emperor or imperial freedom. The letters are cleanly executed in classical Roman capitals, arranged circumferentially around the figure of Libertas, and exhibit minimal epigraphic variation beyond minor differences in die spacing.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology of the Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV Severus Alexander 156 is assigned an overarching date range spanning AD 222 to AD 228. This chronological grouping is established by the transition of obverse legends. In AD 228, following his second consulship and assumption of expanded imperial honors, the mint of Rome shifted its principal obverse legend formula from the abbreviated IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG to longer, modified titles or formulas incorporating P M TR P markers. Because RIC 156 bears the earlier legend, its dies were cut during the initial six years of the principate. Stylistic studies of the imperial portraiture allow specialists to group specimens into early and intermediate phases, charting the gradual physical maturation of the youthful ruler before the introduction of subsequent reverse types depicting his secular and military achievements.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Denarii of RIC IV Severus Alexander 156 circulated extensively across the western and eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. Archaeological excavations, particularly along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and across Roman Britain, demonstrate that these coins formed a standard element of military pay packets and general commercial exchange throughout the mid-third century AD. Hoard data, including finds from Britain, Gaul, and Germany, indicate that the issue remained active in monetary circulation alongside older Antonine and Severan denarii for decades. However, the catastrophic monetary inflation and hyper-debasement of the mid-to-late third century, culminating in the massive issues of low-grade radiate coins under Gallienus and Claudius Gothicus, eventually drove higher-fineness silver denarii of Severus Alexander out of active circulation, prompting private hoarding or melting for subsequent state recoinage.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. VI: Severus Alexander to Balbinus and Pupienus. pp. 118-120
2. Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Coinage (A.D. 193-284). pp. 175-188
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Severus Alexander 156. ric.4.sa.156
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 75, no. 156