Two Alexander of Carthage Folles

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 379. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $4250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Alexander of Carthage. Usurper, AD 308-310. Æ Follis (6.55 g, 12h). Carthago (Carthage) mint. IMP ALEXANDER P F AVG, laureate head right / [INVICT]A ROMA KARTHAGO, Carthago standing facing, head left, wearing long robe, holding fruit in both hands; PK. RIC VI 68; Salama type V. EF, dark brown patina, areas of minor green deposits. Very rare, only 8 authentic examples noted by Salama.

From the White Mountain Collection. Ex Triton V (15 January 2002), lot 2161.

L. Domitius Alexander led a short-lived revolt against Maxentius from 308 to 311, holding Africa and Sardinia. There is little known about this usurper, but there is evidence in an inscription (CIL VIII, 22183) that he and Constantine allied themselves in opposition to Maxentius. P. Salama in "Recherches numismatiques sur l'usurpateur africain L. Domitius Alexander," Proceedings of the International Numismatic Congress 1973, p. 365, note 2, suggests that at the latest, the pact was entered into by autumn of 310.