| Bust of Severus Alexander, laureate, right., Figure standing on the left, helmeted, holding an upside-down vertical spear in his right hand, a drapery over his left arm and holding a cornucopia in his hand. A shield at his feet behind him is slightly visible., Sesterce entirely re-engraved and redesigned, with an interesting composition but which does not correspond to any Roman standard of type: Firstly, on the obverse, there is a portrait of Severus Alexander, recognisable by his young adult traits, surrounded by an anachronistic legend dating from later than his reign, identical to the legend found on the bronze coins of Gordian I and Gordian II.
On the reverse, the legend tells us that we have a depiction of Virtus, a deity frequently represented on coins from the first half of the 3rd century, helmeted and holding a spear in her left hand with a shield at her feet held by her right. However, here she is depicted holding what appears to be a cornucopia (or a club?), and a shield has been clumsily engraved at her feet after the coin was struck. There is also a noticeable misalignment of the spear shaft above and below the right arm. This composition is the work of a single person, with no connection to the imperial issuing authority, as no such representation exists in the coinage of Severus Alexander or the Gordians. It is difficult to determine what the original figure was, perhaps a Providentia (due to the drapery over the arm and the cornucopia), but the reworking and wear make identification too difficult.
It cannot be excluded that this is a late re-engraving, but there is no evidence to support this either., IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AFR AVG, VIRTVS AVGG / S C |
- Conformity
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