I am curious whether anyone can shed any light on what seem to be examples of heavy
denarii of
Severus Alexander I am seeing listed in various places (multiple dealers, &
eBay, but also other places, including reference sites such as
Wildwinds). I am seeing many examples from what would seem to be reputable, established dealers (not on
NFSL or other groups' lists) that weigh in from 3.9 - 4.3g. This seems very heavy for
denarii, especially of this late period -- but the
portraits are laureate, not
radiate, so they are not antoninianii (right? - besides which, my research indicates that the only change in the monetary system under
his reign was the elimination of the
antoninianus, and that the
average weight of the
denarius under
his rule was 3.18g, with a silver
fineness of .418, the same as
his predecessor
Elagabalus).
From my research, I would typically expect a
Severus Alexander denarius to be roughly in the 2.7 - 3.2g range (
average 3.18g), give or (usually) take a little due to wear, clipping, etc., & maybe with an occasional outlier. Current
FORVM examples listed online bear this range expectation out, being listed at 2.642, 2.768g, & 3.270g, for example. But I also see
denarii of
Severus Alexander on reference sites like
Wildwinds with
weights ranging from 2.84g, through 3.63 and 3.72g -- that's nearly a gram difference just on the first three random examples I looked at there that listed a
weight!
But I am also seeing many examples listing that are MUCH heavier on online:
What appears to be a
RIC 67,
sear5 #7904,
RSC 319
Severus Alexander denarius weighing in at 4.12g
What is listed as a RIC-81,
RSC 357
Severus Alexander denarius weighing 3.9g
What is listed as a
RIC IV 252
Severus Alexander denarius weighing 4.3g
What is listed as a
RIC IV: 23,
BMCRE VI 92,
RSC III 231 weighing 3.7g
My question is this: Does the heavy
weight given automatically mark these as
fakes (possibly with lead cores?), or are there known legitimate examples of heavy
denarii under
Severus Alexander? Do the
denarii under
Severus Alexander legitimately range in
weight from ca. 2.6 to 4.3g? This seems unlikely to me, being such a huge range, but I'm hoping someone here can shed some light on this for me.
Thank you in advance for any opinions.
