Alexander of Carthage, Usurper

CNG 94, Lot: 1212. Estimate $5000. Sold for $4250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Alexander of Carthage. Usurper, AD 308-310. Æ Follis (22mm, 5.28 g, 6h). Carthago (Carthage) mint. IMP ALEXANDER P F AVG, laureate head right / GLORIA EXE RCITVS KART, Alexander, radiate, on horseback riding right, raising right hand; PK. RIC VI 66 var. (break in rev. legend); Salama type IV, portrait style G. Good VF, dark gray and brown patina. Very rare.

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.