Elagabalus Silver Antoninianus RIC IV Elagabalus 12e

Monetary Context and Denominational Function

The antoninianus, or radiate double denarius, was introduced around 214 or 215 AD under Caracalla to alleviate acute state expenditure pressures caused by military pay increases and imperial donatives. Although officially tariffed at two denarii, the physical coin contained only about one and a half times the silver weight of a contemporary denarius, effectively creating an overvalued fiduciary currency that yielded a substantial fiscal profit for the imperial treasury. Production of the denomination was temporarily curtailed toward the close of Macrinus's reign in 218 AD but was promptly resumed in the opening months of Elagabalus's rule. During the first two years of Elagabalus's reign (218-219 AD), the mint at Rome produced antoniniani alongside a voluminous output of traditional denarii. By 219 AD, the year to which RIC IV Elagabalus 12e belongs, the denomination maintained a significant presence in state disbursements, particularly targeting military units stationed in Italy and along key provincial frontiers. However, the resurgence was brief; by late 219 or early 220 AD, imperial authorities chose to halt regular production of the radiate silver denomination, leaving the denarius as the principal silver coin of the Severan administration until the massive reform under Gordian III in 238 AD.

Production Standards and Mint Assignment

RIC IV Elagabalus 12e was struck exclusively at the principal imperial mint in Rome. While early Severan coinage for Elagabalus also saw significant production at Eastern facilities such as Antioch and possibly Emesa during the imperial progress toward the capital, the refined stylistic execution, die alignment patterns, and epigraphic conventions of this specific type firmly place it within the urban officinae of Rome. Metallurgical analyses of Severan silver demonstrate that antoniniani of this phase generally adhered to an alloy of roughly forty to forty-six percent silver, balance copper, continuing the progressive debasement begun under Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Individual flans were cast from prepared alloy ingots, trimmed, and hot-struck between engraved iron or bronze dies. Weights across the broader denomination family typically center between 4.8 and 5.3 grams, though individual surviving specimens exhibit standard manufacturing variations, flan irregularities, and subsequent mass loss through chemical corrosion and physical circulation wear.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 12e presents a right-facing bust of the young emperor. He is depicted wearing a radiate crown, the quintessential numismatic attribute that distinguished the double denarius from the laurel-crowned single denarius throughout the third century. In catalogued specimens of subtype 12e, the bust is draped over the shoulders, rendering the juvenile ruler in classical military-civilian attire typical of official metropolitan portraiture in 219 AD. The portraiture is heavily Severan in form, consciously modeled on the idealized imagery of the young Caracalla to visually reinforce the dynastic fiction that Elagabalus was Caracalla's natural son and legitimate heir. The features are adolescent, devoid of the later exotic priestly attributes, such as the horn of divine power or the Syrian sacerdotal robes, which only began appearing on Rome's coinage after Elagabalus formally installed the cult of Elagabal at the capital later in his reign.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse of the coin features Roma, the divine personification of the Roman state, seated facing left. She is draped in traditional stola and wears an Attic or Corinthian style helmet. In her extended right hand, she supports a miniature figure of Victory, who holds a wreath or palm branch, symbolizing military triumph and imperial stability. In her left hand, Roma grasps a transverse or upright spear, while a circular shield rests on edge against the side of her seat. This classical motif was a standard Severan allegorical type that stressed continuity, traditional civic piety, and the eternal majesty of Rome. By deploying this conservative type during his second year, Elagabalus's administration sought to project legitimacy and deference to ancestral Roman institutions, contrasting sharply with the controversial religious innovations that would later characterize his administration.

Epigraphy and Legend Structure

The obverse inscription reads IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG, broken along the upper periphery: Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. This formulaic legend asserts the imperial title Imperator, the dynastic cognomen Caesar, the revered name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus adopted to legitimize the regime through the Antonine bloodline, and the supreme title Augustus. The reverse inscription reads P M TR P II COS II P P, an abbreviation of Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate II, Consul II, Pater Patriae. This epigraphic formula confirms Elagabalus's office as chief pontiff, his second annual grant of tribunician authority, his second consulship (assumed on January 1, 219 AD), and his recognition as father of the country. Because imperial tribunician power renewed annually, the concurrence of TR P II and COS II provides a rigid chronometer that constrains the striking of this issue strictly to the year 219 AD.

Typology and Chronological Classification

Within the system of Roman Imperial Coinage, RIC IV part II divides Elagabalus's Rome antoniniani primarily by date and titulature. Number 12 encompasses dated antoniniani bearing the legend P M TR P II COS II P P, with individual alphabetical suffixes distinguishing specific reverse figures and bust variations. Subtype 12e specifically denotes the combination of the seated Roma reverse with a radiate, draped bust right, differentiating it from variants featuring alternate reverse deities (such as Mars, Pax, or Providentia) or distinct obverse bust drapery combinations like bare neck or cuirassed treatments. Because Elagabalus entered his third tribunician power (TR P III) toward the end of 219 or beginning of 220 AD, the production window for RIC IV Elagabalus 12e was strictly confined to 219 AD. The type belongs to the first major phase of Severan radiate production at Rome prior to the general cessation of the denomination around 220 AD.

Circulation, Hoard Context, and Survival

Antoniniani of Elagabalus struck in 219 AD circulated primarily within military pay networks and across the northwestern and Danubian frontiers, where legions readily absorbed bulk silver issues. Because the antoninianus carried an inflated face value relative to its metal content, it often circulated alongside earlier denarii of higher intrinsic silver content before Gresham's law or state hoarding prompted differential retention. In third-century coin hoards throughout Britain, Gaul, and the Rhine-Danube limes, early Severan antoniniani appear regularly, though in significantly smaller proportions than denarii of the same period or the mass-produced antoniniani of the post-238 AD era. When the antoninianus was re-established on a massive scale by Gordian III and Philip I, earlier Severan radiate coins remained legal tender, though many were gradually melted down or restruck as silver debasement accelerated toward the middle of the third century.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 660-675
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 535-545
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 12e. ric.4.el.12e
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 29, no. 12