315, Lot: 479. Estimate $75. Sold for $80. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Severus Alexander. AD 222-235. Æ As (25mm, 10.39 g, 12h). Rome mint. Special emission, AD 226. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / PONTI F MAX TR P V COS II P P, LIB AVG III in exergue, emperor seated left on curule chair set on platform; in front, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus and cornucopia; behind, an officer and a soldier standing left, soldier holding spear; to left, citizen mounting steps to decorated platform. RIC IV 455; BMCRE 321. Fine, brown patina.

From the R. D. Frederick Collection.

Lauding Severus Alexander as a generous emperor, this Liberalitas reverse type conveys the distribution of a sum of money and other gifts to the people. Indicated as his third such act of kindness and benevolence toward the citizens of Rome, Liberalitas is depicted next to the emperor holding an abacus (a counting board which showed the amount of money, grain, and other articles of consumption which had been given) and a cornucopia, both exemplifying the congiaria bestowed unto the public.