Extremely Rare Tyrian Hemichalkous

401, Lot: 314. Estimate $100. Sold for $425. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHOENICIA, Tyre. Severus Alexander. AD 222-235. Æ Hemichalkous (15mm, 3.04 g, 12h). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Dido, holding scepter or banner, on deck of galley; murex shell to upper left. Rouvier –; BMC –; AUB –; SNG Copenhagen –; CNG E-336, lot 205 (same obv. die); CNG E-301, lot 212 (same obv. die). Good VF, orangish earthen dark green patina. Unusually small denomination for period. Extremely rare, only two examples on CoinArchives.

A similar reverse appears on larger module bronzes, known to Rouvier from Diadumenian through Gordian III. These feature two sailors on deck, which had to be omitted due to the small size of the reverse die used for the current piece. Based on Rouvier’s breakdown of the denominations for Tyre, this piece would be a hemichalkous.