Heritage World Coin Auctions
CICF Signature Sale 3032 10-12 April 2014
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ancients
Elagabalus (AD 218-222). AV aureus (21mm, 7.38 gm, 1h). Rome, AD 218-219. IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus right / FIDES MILITVM, Elagabalus, laureate and in military attire, standing right, holding transverse spear, flanked by a soldier carrying signum and shield to right and a second soldier holding a standard topped by a hand behind; a third signa in the background. RIC 76d. BMCRE 16 note. Cohen 42. Calicó 2994. Extremely rare! With choice surfaces and a well-modeled portrait, deeply struck on a broad flan. NGC (photo-certificate) Choice XF 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, edge marks.From The Andre Constantine Dimitriadis Collection. Ex Spink (London, March 2000), lot 20. As a 14-year-old transvestite sun-worshipping exotic dancer, the Emperor Elagabalus made for an unlikely soldier. Yet in this age of "iron and rust," no Roman emperor could hope to gain and hold the throne without the support of Rome's legionaries. At the Battle of Antioch in June of AD 218, the youthful pretender actually out-soldiered his rival Macrinus by charging to the front of the battle line and urging his men to keep up the fight; Macrinus, in contrast, lost heart and fled the field. This beautiful aureus, struck shortly after the battle and Elagabalus' assumption of supreme power, presents a militant image of the most non-military of rulers, showing the young emperor in full kit and surrounded by his supportive soldiers. Once ensconced in the Imperial palace, however, Elagabalus quickly lost the affection of the soldiery by engaging in ever more outrageous and un-Roman antics.
Estimate: 16000-20000 USD
Elagabalus (AD 218-222). AV aureus (21mm, 7.38 gm, 1h). Rome, AD 218-219. IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus right / FIDES MILITVM, Elagabalus, laureate and in military attire, standing right, holding transverse spear, flanked by a soldier carrying signum and shield to right and a second soldier holding a standard topped by a hand behind; a third signa in the background. RIC 76d. BMCRE 16 note. Cohen 42. Calicó 2994. Extremely rare! With choice surfaces and a well-modeled portrait, deeply struck on a broad flan. NGC (photo-certificate) Choice XF 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, edge marks.From The Andre Constantine Dimitriadis Collection. Ex Spink (London, March 2000), lot 20. As a 14-year-old transvestite sun-worshipping exotic dancer, the Emperor Elagabalus made for an unlikely soldier. Yet in this age of "iron and rust," no Roman emperor could hope to gain and hold the throne without the support of Rome's legionaries. At the Battle of Antioch in June of AD 218, the youthful pretender actually out-soldiered his rival Macrinus by charging to the front of the battle line and urging his men to keep up the fight; Macrinus, in contrast, lost heart and fled the field. This beautiful aureus, struck shortly after the battle and Elagabalus' assumption of supreme power, presents a militant image of the most non-military of rulers, showing the young emperor in full kit and surrounded by his supportive soldiers. Once ensconced in the Imperial palace, however, Elagabalus quickly lost the affection of the soldiery by engaging in ever more outrageous and un-Roman antics.
Estimate: 16000-20000 USD