Persian Triumph Issue

451, Lot: 378. Estimate $100. Sold for $120. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Severus Alexander. AD 222-235. AR Denarius (20mm, 2.85 g, 6h). Persian ‘Triumph’ issue. Rome mint. Special emission, AD 233. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / LIBERA LI TAS AVG V, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus and double cornucopia. RIC IV 243 var. (single cornucopia); cf. BMCRE 946; RSC 142 var. (same). Bright surfaces. Near EF.

R. A. G. Carson in the Introduction to Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum Volume VI writes that “Although the Persian war was concluded by terms not wholly consistent with success, Alexander on his return to Rome in 233 celebrated a triumph which was the occasion for the dispensation of his fifth liberalitas” (p. 82).