401, Lot: 557. Estimate $100. Sold for $220. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Severus Alexander. AD 222-235. Æ Sestertius (30mm, 19.43 g, 12h). Rome mint. Proclamation issue, April AD 222. IMP CAES M AVR SEV ALEX[AND]ER AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / L[IB]ERALITA S AVGVS[TI], S C in exergue, Alexander seated left on curule chair set on platform; to left, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus and cornucopia; to right, lictor standing left, holding rod; to left, citizen mounting steps to decorated platform. RIC IV 566; BMCRE 9; Banti 31. Fine, green patina. Rare.

Lauding Severus Alexander as a generous emperor, this Liberalitas reverse type conveys the distribution of a sum of money and other supplies to the people. Indicated as his fourth such act of kindness and benevolence toward the citizens of Rome, she 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.