SEVERUS ALEXANDER
AD 222-235
AR Denarius. 2.96g, 19.4mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 227
REF: RIC 67; Cohen 319; BMC 423
OBVERSE: IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXANDER AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind.
REVERSE: P M TR P VI COS II P P, Pax advancing left, holding branch in right hand and scepter in left.
 
Grade/Notes: 
Almost Very Fine. Some light porosity; minor flan crack. 
 
Provenance:
From an old Swiss collection, purchased in the 1960s/70s from Numiphil Basel (with their original ticket)
 
Historical Notes:
Following the violent ending of Elagabalus's bizarre rule, Rome breathed a sigh of relief when his younger cousin, Severus Alexander, took to the throne with a council of respected senators and advisors assisting him in the rule of the empire. His rule was generally marked by economic prosperity, peace, and legal and religious tolerance. 
 
From 230, however, Alexander began to lose popularity with the army as he proved unable to lead them to a decisive victory against the Sasanian Empire. He was seen to be too keen to seek diplomatic solutions to military conflicts, and disaffected soldiers would soon be calling him a coward, held under the sway of his domineering mother. In 235, at the age of 26, he and his mother were both murdered at Moguntiacum by mutinous soldiers of the Legio XXII Primigenia. His death would spell the end of the Severan Dynasty, ushering in a period of great turmoil for the Roman Empire known as the Crisis of the 3rd Century.