Roman Coin
Item
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Title
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Roman Coin
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Description
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Large, bronze, Roman provincial coin, approximately 27 millimeters in diameter and minted at Nisibis in Mesopotamia during the reign of Emperor Severus Alexander.
Front: bust of Severus Alexander facing right, with drapery on left shoulder. Circumscribed with AVT KAI MAP AV CE AΛEΞANΔPOC, although wording can no longer be seen.
Reverse: bust of Tyche facing right, turreted, veiled, and draped. The bust is topped by a ram, leaping to the right, with its head looking back, to represent the constellation Aries. A star is to the right of Tyche’s mouth. To the left of Tyche, the wording, CEΠ KOΛO, to the right, NESIBI MHT, although neither can been seen.
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (October 1, 208 to March 18, 235 CE), commonly called Alexander Severus, was the last Roman emperor of the Severan dynasty. He was Caesar under Elagabalus from 221 to 222 CE and succeeded him as Augustus in 222 CE. He eliminated the luxury and extravagance that had formerly been so prevalent at the court. He raised the standard of coinage, reduced taxes, and instituted loan offices for lending money at a moderate rate of interest. He encouraged literature, art, and science and improved conditions for soldiers. He was slain on March 18, 235, in a mutiny of the Legio XXII Primigenia. His death marked the beginning of the chaotic period known as the Crisis of the Third Century: nearly fifty years of disorder, civil wars, economic chaos, regional rebellions, and external threats that brought the Empire to near-collapse.
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Identifier
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2008.036.030
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Source
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Mesopotamia, Nisibis
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Subject
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Numismatics
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Provenance
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William and Catherine Sell
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Date Created
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222-235 CE
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Is Part Of
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Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
