Triton XX, Lot: 810. Estimate $20000. Sold for $16000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Severus Alexander. AD 222-235. AV Aureus (21mm, 6.37 g, 12h). Rome mint. Proclamation issue, circa April AD 222. IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / LIBE–RALITAS AVGVSTI, emperor seated left on curule chair set on platform; before him stands Liberalitas, holding abacus and cornucopia; at far left, citizen mounts steps of platform. RIC IV 150 (R4); BMCRE 8; Calicó 3066 (R3); Biaggi 1310. EF, toned, tiny deposit below bust. Attractive youthful bust. Very rare.

In March AD 222, Elagabalus was murdered by members of the Praetorian Guard whom had clearly begun to favor the emperor’s thirteen year-old cousin, Severus Alexander, over the depraved ruler. Alexander was raised to the throne, and the distribution of largess to the people must have been among his first public acts as new emperor. This is commemorated by coins struck in gold, silver, and bronze carrying Liberalitas (liberality, generosity) either by herself or alongside the emperor in a distribution scene.