Æ23 - Severus Alexander COL ALEX AVG TROA

Alexandria Troas was a Roman colony — Colonia Alexandria Augusta Troadensis — whose colonial status entitled it to issue bronze coinage in the Roman tradition, a privilege not extended to every city in the conventus. Under Severus Alexander, the city's mint was notably productive, exploiting the emperor's long and relatively stable reign to issue a wide range of types. The reference to COL ALEX AVG in the legend is the colony asserting its Roman civic identity explicitly, something the city did consistently across multiple reigns.

Severus Alexander was killed by his own troops in 235 AD near Mainz, his murder marking the onset of the Crisis of the Third Century and the abrupt end of the Severan dynasty.