The Usurper Alexander of Carthage

CNG 97, Lot: 721. Estimate $2000. Sold for $3750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Alexander of Carthage. Usurper, AD 308-310. Æ Follis (21mm, 4.40 g, 6h). Carthago (Carthage) mint. IMP ALEXANDER P F AVG, laureate head right / S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, aquila between two signa, one on left surmounted by hand, one of right surmounted by wreath; PK. RIC VI 72; Salama type X, portrait style G. VF, brown, green, and gray patina, traces of red, earthen deposits, slightly irregular edge. Pleasing portrait. 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.