SEVERUS ALEXANDER
AD 222-235
AR Denarius. 2.95g, 19.7mm
MINTED: Rome mint, AD 222-228
REF: RIC IV 144
OBVERSE: IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate and draped bust right.
REVERSE: IOVI VLTORI, Jupiter seated left, holding Victory in right hand and spear in left hand.
 
Grade/Notes: 
Good Very Fine. Minor flan flaw on obverse. 
 
Historical Notes:
Following the violent ending of Elagabalus's bizarre rule, Rome breathed a sigh of relief when his younger cousin, Severus Alexander, took to the throne with a council of respected senators and advisors assisting him in the rule of the empire. His rule was generally marked by economic prosperity, peace, and legal and religious tolerance. 
 
From 230, however, Alexander began to lose popularity with the army as he proved unable to lead them to a decisive victory against the Sasanian Empire. He was seen to be too keen to seek diplomatic solutions to military conflicts, and disaffected soldiers would soon be calling him a coward, held under the sway of his domineering mother. In 235, at the age of 26, he and his mother were both murdered at Moguntiacum by mutinous soldiers of the Legio XXII Primigenia. His death would spell the end of the Severan Dynasty, ushering in a period of great turmoil for the Roman Empire known as the Crisis of the 3rd Century.