232 AD. Rome mint. Obv: IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG legend with laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: MARS VLTOR legend with Mars advancing right holding shield and spear. RIC 246; BMC 831; Sear 7882.3.23 grams. ("). Ex Yavuz collection. Severus Alexander was adopted as heir by his deranged cousin, the emperor Elagabalus, whose murder led to the immediate acceptance of the popular young Alexander as emperor. Alexander was quiet and retiring by nature however, and failed to command the respect of the army in this martial age. His government was also dominated by the female members of his family, particularly his mother Julia Mamaea, and his grandmother, Julia Maesa. This was a period of renewed trouble at the German frontier as well as with Rome’s traditional enemy, the Parthian Empire. Eventually the army mutinied against Alexander, murdering him and his mother at camp, an act which extinguished the Severan Dynasty and triggered a protracted period of military anarchy. [No Reserve]