Usurper, Alexander of Carthage

Triton XVII, Lot: 792. Estimate $4000. Sold for $4500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Alexander of Carthage. Usurper, AD 308-310. Æ Follis (23mm, 4.62 g, 12h). Carthago (Carthage) mint. IMP ALEXANDER P F AVG, laureate head right / VICTORIA ALEXANDRI AVG N, Victory advancing left, holding wreath in right hand, palm frond in left; PK. RIC VI 73; Salama type XI; Hunter –. Good VF, brown patina, a spot of green encrustation on obverse. Excellent metal for issue. Rare.

Ex Coin Galleries (20 October 2010), lot 238.

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 ("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.