Obverse: IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG; Laureate
and Draped Bust of the Emperor Facing Right
Reverse: MARS VLTOR; Mars Walking to the
Right Carring a Spear and a Shield
Even though he was only a fourteen year old
boy when he was elevated to the throne, the
Senate voted him the title PATER PATRIAE,
Latin for "Father of his Country" because they
were so relieved to be free of the wanton
depravity of his predecessor Elagabalus.
Severus Alexander was a peaceful and
religious man. He set up a shrine containing
statues of his favorite gods and even included
one of Jesus Christ. He removed some of the
harsh laws discriminating against Christians,
and even thought about setting up a temple
for Christian worship. The women of the
Severan dynasty had always wielded a great
deal of power and Alexander's mother, Julia
Mamaea, tightly controlled who could see her
son. She urged him to govern well and give all
his attention to laws and administration. Partly
because he was under the control of his
mother for so long, he was never popular with
the legions. In A.D. 235, a popular army
officer, Maximinus the Thracian, led a revolt
that ended the reign and the life of Severus
Alexander. With a group of army officers, he
entered Alexander's tent and murdered him.
His mother, Julia Mamaea, was also killed in
the coup d’etat.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have
the coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to
pull out some change, we rarely hesitate to
think of who might have touched the coin
before us, or where the coin will venture to
after it leaves our hands. More than money,
coins are a symbol of the state that struck
them, of a specific time and location, whether
contemporary currencies or artifacts of a long
forgotten empire. This stunning hand-struck
coin reveals an expertise of craftsmanship and
intricate sculptural detail that is often lacking
in contemporary machine-made currencies.
This ancient coin is a memorial to an
emperor’s reign passed from the hands of
civilization to civilization, from generation to
generation that still appears as vibrant today
as the day it was struck.
