Heritage World Coin Auctions
CICF Signature Sale 3046 14-15 April 2016
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Elagabalus (AD 218-222). AR denarius (18mm, 2.84 gm, 11h). Antioch, AD 218-219. ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus right, seen from behind / SANCT DEO SOLI, quadriga right bearing stone of Emesa, inscribed with eagle, four parasols around, ELAGABAL in exergue. RIC 195. RSC 268. Rare! Small deposit scraped off in obverse field, otherwise crisply struck in good metal. A choice example of this interesting type! NGC MS 5/5 - 3/5, light smoothing. "Elagabalus" is the name of the Syrian solar deity worshipped in Emesa, the city from which the female side of the Severan dynasty derived. The god was embodied in a black conical stone, probably a meteorite, kept within an elaborate temple. The emperor now commonly called Elagabalus started out life as Varius Avitus Bassianus, the grandson of Julia Maesa, sister to the Empress Julia Domna; after assuming the purple he took the name Antoninus Pius in imitation of his maternal uncle (now commonly called Caracalla). As a priest of Elagabalus, after winning the throne, he ordered the Stone of Emesa brought to Rome in a special chariot, paraded in procession with priests and acolytes the entire way from Syria. The chariot is seen on the reverse of this rare coin type from the mint of Antioch.
Estimate: 1000-1300 USD
Elagabalus (AD 218-222). AR denarius (18mm, 2.84 gm, 11h). Antioch, AD 218-219. ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus right, seen from behind / SANCT DEO SOLI, quadriga right bearing stone of Emesa, inscribed with eagle, four parasols around, ELAGABAL in exergue. RIC 195. RSC 268. Rare! Small deposit scraped off in obverse field, otherwise crisply struck in good metal. A choice example of this interesting type! NGC MS 5/5 - 3/5, light smoothing. "Elagabalus" is the name of the Syrian solar deity worshipped in Emesa, the city from which the female side of the Severan dynasty derived. The god was embodied in a black conical stone, probably a meteorite, kept within an elaborate temple. The emperor now commonly called Elagabalus started out life as Varius Avitus Bassianus, the grandson of Julia Maesa, sister to the Empress Julia Domna; after assuming the purple he took the name Antoninus Pius in imitation of his maternal uncle (now commonly called Caracalla). As a priest of Elagabalus, after winning the throne, he ordered the Stone of Emesa brought to Rome in a special chariot, paraded in procession with priests and acolytes the entire way from Syria. The chariot is seen on the reverse of this rare coin type from the mint of Antioch.
Estimate: 1000-1300 USD