Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea Æ Hybrid Medallion - As. Rome, AD 226-235. IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Alexander facing draped bust of Mamaea, wearing stephane; MATER AVG below / P M TR P V COS II P P, the Nymphaeum of Severus Alexander with three arches (and statues within?) and facing quadriga on roof; below, building of which both sides are seen in perspective; S-C across fields. RIC 664 (this coin cited); C. 14 (this coin); BMCRE 327 note (this coin cited); Toynbee p. 165, note 188 (this coin cited); Gnecchi -; Münzhandlung Basel 3, 1935, lot 782. 11.20g, 26mm, 12h.

Good Very Fine; smoothed and lightly tooled. Extremely Rare, the second known example (the other being known from the Princes of Waldeck Collection).

This coin cited in J. M. C. Toynbee, Roman Medallion (New York, 1986);
This coin cited in H. Mattingly et al., Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume 6 (London, 1962);
This coin cited in H. Mattingly, E.A. Sydenham, C. H. V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume 4 (London 1930);
This coin cited in H. Cohen, Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain (Paris, 1880-92);
Ex 'R. J. Graham' (Paul Tinchant) Collection, J. Schulman, Auction 243, 8 June 1966, lot 2053;
Ex Ars Classica S.A., Auction XVI, 3 July 1933, lot 1979;
Ex L. Vierordt Collection, J. Schulman, Auction 139, 4-8 March 1923, lot 2066 (copy of catalogue description and plate included);
Ex J. Gréau Collection, H. Hoffmann, 19 May 1869, lot 3062.

In 226 Severus Alexander constructed the Aqua Alexandrina, an aqueduct built to supply the water necessary for the emperor's planned enlargement of the baths of Nero (Thermae Neronis). At the terminus of the aqueduct stood a monumental fountain on the Esquiline Hill known as the Nymphaeum Alexandri, the remains of which can still be seen today in the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. The similarity of those remains to the structure depicted on this reverse has been noted by Hill, who concluded the Nymphaeum clearly provided the model for the type (Monuments of Ancient Rome as Coin Types, London 1989, pp, 98-9). The Nymphaeum appears on gold, silver and bronze issues (see RIC 58-9, and 449-51) of AD 226 and presumably commemorates not only the construction of the fountain, but also the completion of the project to enlarge the thermae and construction of the Aqua Alexandrina. Examples in all metals are rare today, though bronze Nymphaeum medallions of Alexander and Julia Mamaea are exceedingly rare (see BMCRE 326-327, RIC 665). This is the only known medallion of the type with a reverse inscription indicating it was issued under the authority of the Senate (S C) and as Carson notes, this presumably indicates it is a hybrid with a medallion obverse and the reverse of an as (see BMCRE VI 327 note).