Severus Alexander - Roman Emperor: 222-235 A.D. -
Fourrée Silver Denarius 17mm (2.8 grams) Rome mint: 225 A.D.
Reference: RIC 45, S 7898
IMPCMAVRSEVALEXANDAVG - Laureate, draped bust right.
PMTRPIIICOSPP - Mars advancing right, holding spear and trophy.
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Authenticity.
A fourrée is a
coin, most often a
counterfeit, that is made from a base metal core that has been plated with a
precious metal to look like its solid metal counter part. The term is normally
applied to ancient silver plated coins such as the
Roman
denarius
and
Greek
drachma, but the term is also applied to other plated coins.
Cicero mentions that
M. Marius Gratidianus, a
praetor
during the 80s BC, was widely praised for developing tests to detect false
coins, and removing them from circulation. Gratidianus was killed under
Sulla, who introduced his own anti-forgery law (lex Cornelia de falsis),
that reintroduced serrated edges on precious metal coins, an anticounterfeiting
measure that had been tried earlier. Serrated denarii, or serrati, which
featured about 20 notched chisel mark on the edge of the coin, were produced to
demonstrate the integrity of the coin. This effort was in vain, as examples of
fourrée serrati attest.
Marcus
Aurelius Severus Alexander (October 1, 208–March 18, 235 AD), commonly
called Alexander Severus, was the last
Roman emperor (11 March 222–235) of the
Severan dynasty. Alexander Severus succeeded his cousin,
Elagabalus
upon the latter's assassination in 222 AD, and was ultimately assassinated
himself, marking the
epoch event for the
Crisis of the Third Century—nearly fifty years of disorder, Roman civil
wars, economic chaos, regional rebellions, and external threats that brought the
Empire to near-collapse.
Alexander Severus was the
heir
apparent to his cousin, the eighteen-year-old Emperor who had been murdered
along with his mother by his own guards—and as a mark of contempt, had their
remains cast into the
Tiber river. He and his cousin were both grandsons of the influential and
powerful
Julia Maesa, who had arranged for Elagabalus' acclamation as Emperor by the
famed
Third Gallic Legion.
A rumor of Alexander's death circulated, triggering the assassination of
Elagabalus.
Alexander's reign was marked by troubles. In military conflict against the
rising
Sassanid Empire, there are mixed accounts, though the Sassanid threat was
checked. However, when campaigning against
Germanic tribes of
Germania,
Alexander Severus apparently alienated his legions by trying diplomacy and
bribery, and they assassinated him.
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