Alexander of Carthage, Usurper

CNG 106, Lot: 811. Estimate $3000. Sold for $2300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Alexander of Carthage. Usurper, AD 308-310. Æ Follis (21.5mm, 5.57 g, 6h). Carthago (Carthage) mint. IMP ALEXANDER P F AVG, laureate head right / IOVI CONSERVATORI, Jupiter standing left, holding thunderbolt and scepter; PK. RIC VI 69; Salama Type VI. VF, dark green-brown surfaces, minor roughness. Very rare.

L. Domitius Alexander led a short-lived revolt against Maxentius from AD 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.