Severus Alexander - Antioch or Rome?

[moonmoth]

This coin fits the description of both RIC IV 215, Rome mint, and RIC IV 302, Antioch mint.  But the note to 215 says that this coin could belong to the Antioch mint.  So which is this coin?  The portrait does not look like the normal Roman type, the lettering is large, and Victoria is quite exuberant.  But it doesn't, to me, look quite like the obvious Eastern type.

What do the experts think?  Whichever, it's a nice coin worth posting.

Silver denarius of Severus Alexander. 228-231 CE. 17x18mm, 2.14g.
Obv: IMP SEV AL-EXAND AVG. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: VICTORIA AVG.  Victory running right, holding out wreath in right hand and palm branch over left shoulder.
Ref: RCV (2002) ---; RIC IV 215 or 302.

Bill

[Joe Sermarini]

Nice style.  I can only agree with your observations, not typical Rome or Eastern. 

[mix_val]

According to the BMC, the obverse title only occurred on Rome coins after 228 AD and so this combined with the youthful portrait suggests that the coin is from the eastern mint and of the first issue.  Issue 2 from the eastern mint adopted the standard obverse title of IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG.   I have 8 coins like the one shown above in my collection, some with stars in the reverse (560-561), which is a characteristic of the eastern mint.  The portrait style varies considerably

[moonmoth]

Thanks.  I also just found a para in RIC that says "Denarii with the type of Victory running right holding wreath and palm (no. 215), appear to have been struck mainly in the East (Antioch). They are peculiar inasmuch as the obverse legend places their issue between 228 and 231 (probably in 231), but the style of portrait is youthful and characteristic of the earlier years of the reign." 

That obv. legend is on only one dated Antioch coin in RIC that is not in some way dubious; RIC IV 263, dated 222 (TR P), but that is enough to make the point.

Bill

[curtislclay]

This Victory type is definitely "Eastern" in my opinion, that is, non-Roman.

Whether all of the "Eastern" denarii of Sev. Alex. were struck at one and the same mint, however, is another question.

[moonmoth]

An interesting speculation!  But this coin is made to a high artistic standard, and pretty well struck too, so not just some small mint with half-trained engravers and strikers like the "Emesa" of Severus.