Elagabalus Silver Antoninianus RIC IV Elagabalus 90f

Monetary Context and Denominational Background

The radiate silver coin designated as RIC IV Elagabalus 90f belongs to the denomination modern numismatists term the antoninianus, originally introduced by Caracalla in AD 215. While ancient sources leave its formal Roman name ambiguous, the denomination functioned as a double denarius. It was readily distinguished from standard silver denarii by the emperor's radiate solar crown on the obverse, a visual convention borrowed from earlier radiate dupondii in Roman bronze coinage. Although tariffed officially at two denarii, the physical coin was minted at an average weight equivalent to roughly one and a half denarii, with a silver fineness that matched or fell slightly below contemporary denarii at approximately forty to forty-five percent purity. This disparity allowed the imperial treasury to capture significant seigniorage profits by paying state expenses, especially military stipends and imperial donatives, using overvalued currency. Following the assassination of Caracalla and the brief reign of Macrinus, who largely phased out the denomination, Elagabalus reauthorized limited production of the radiate upon taking power in AD 218. The reissue was short-lived; by AD 219, the mint at Rome ceased producing antoniniani, focusing almost exclusively on denarii and aes denominations for the remainder of the reign. RIC IV Elagabalus 90f stands as a vital witness to this transitional monetary episode, embodying the final early Severan output of double denarii before the denomination was fully revived under Pupienus, Balbinus, and Gordian III nearly two decades later.

Production Technology and Mint Attribution

The entire attested emission of RIC IV Elagabalus 90f is assigned by numismatic consensus to the principal imperial mint at Rome. Although eastern mints, notably Antioch and occasional subsidiary Syrian workshops, operated during Elagabalus's early reign while the court traveled toward Italy, the stylistic execution and die-cutting habits of type 90f correlate firmly with the metropolitan workshops of Rome. Production at Rome followed traditional striking methods using engraved bronze or iron dies. Blanks were cast in moulds, prepared to regularized weight tolerances, and struck hot between an anchored lower obverse die and a mobile upper reverse die. The average weight of Elagabalus's antoniniani typically spans 2.8 to 3.4 grams, with diameters between 18 and 21 millimetres, reflecting a minor decline compared to Caracalla's initial standard of roughly 5.0 to 5.1 grams theoretical weight for early radiates. Analysis of metallic composition indicates that silver was alloyed with over fifty percent copper, frequently utilizing surface silver-enrichment techniques during the pickling process to give freshly struck specimens a bright, deceptive silver sheen. Die alignment for Rome during this era predominantly adheres to an upright or near-upright axis, commonly clustering around twelve o'clock or six o'clock, reflecting systematic workshop management within the imperial capital.

Obverse Iconography and Imperial Representation

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 90f presents the right-facing profile portrait of the emperor wearing a radiate crown, which explicitly marks the denomination as a double piece. In the classification scheme of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume IV, lettered suffixes differentiate specific bust treatments; suffix f denotes a bust that is both draped and cuirassed when viewed from the back or side. The portraiture is idealized yet distinctive of the young prince, who took the formal imperial name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus in an effort to legitimize his claim as Caracalla's natural son and heir. Die engravers rendered the emperor with boyish, slightly fleshy facial features, a curved nose, and short, curly hair characteristic of early Severan portraits. The radiate crown sits firmly above the brow, with its sharply cut solar rays radiating outward to invoke the divine aura of Sol, a motif that anticipated the emperor's intense domestic devotion to his ancestral deity, Elagabal. The presence of the cuirass, partially visible beneath military drapery, projected the requisite image of martial preparedness to the legions whose support secured his elevation.

Reverse Iconography: Jupiter the Preserver

The reverse design is devoted to Jupiter under the protective epithet IOVI CONSERVATORI. The supreme deity of the Roman pantheon is depicted standing facing left, entirely naked except for an imperial mantle or chlamys cast loosely over his shoulders and falling behind his back. In his outstretched right hand, Jupiter brandishes a thunderbolt, the ultimate emblem of cosmic authority and martial destruction, while his raised left hand rests upon a tall vertical sceptre signifying supreme rule. At his feet to the left perches an eagle, Jupiter's sacred avian companion, turning its head back toward its master. To the right of the central scene stand two military legionary signa or standards. This combination of classical Capitoline iconography with explicit military fixtures carries profound ideological significance. While Elagabalus's later reign became famous for the aggressive promotion of the Emesene sun-god Elagabal above the traditional pantheon, his earliest coinage struck at Rome adhered strictly to traditional Roman state religion. By invoking Jupiter Conservator alongside military standards, the imperial court sought to reassure conservative Roman elites and soldiers alike that the traditional protector of the Roman state guarded the newly enthroned youth.

Inscriptions, Epigraphy, and Titulature

The obverse legend on RIC IV Elagabalus 90f is rendered concisely as IMP ANTONINVS AVG, transcribed in full as Imperator Antoninus Augustus. This inscription represents the fundamental baseline of the emperor's public titulature, lacking specific offices such as the tribunician power, consulship, or Pontifex Maximus. Epigraphically, the letters are executed in clear, standard imperial lapidary capitals with triangular serifs, following continuous clockwise paths along the beaded rim. The abbreviation IMP appears at the left lower field, ascending toward the upper rim, while AVG terminates at the lower right. The adoption of the Antonine name served an overt dynastic purpose, suppressing his birth name of Varius Avitus Bassianus in favor of the revered name Antoninus, directly evoking Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and Caracalla. On the reverse, the legend IOVI CONSERVATORI is presented in the dative case, indicating an offering or dedication to Jupiter the Preserver. The letters encircle the upper and lateral fields of the coin, reading clockwise from lower left to lower right, harmoniously framing the standing figure and the military standards without mintmark or control mark interruptions in the exergue.

Typology, Dating, and Die Variations

Under the typological framework of Roman Imperial Coinage, type 90 comprises silver radiates struck with the reverse legend IOVI CONSERVATORI and the standard standing Jupiter motif. The master entry is subdivided by bust variations: RIC IV 90a to 90e represent various combinations of draped, cuirassed, or bare busts, while 90f specifically documents the radiate, draped, and cuirassed variety. Although RIC IV assigns the broad date span of AD 218 to 222 across Elagabalus's full reign, specialized numismatic research demonstrates that the emission was strictly confined to the initial phase of the reign between mid-AD 218 and late AD 219. The absence of dated offices such as TR P or COS formulas on type 90f leaves chronological precision dependent on hoard sequences and die linkages with dated denarius emissions. Around AD 219, imperial administrators made the institutional decision to suspend the production of antoniniani at the Rome mint, rendering all Rome-minted radiates of Elagabalus products of this narrow initial window. Die studies highlight subtle engraving variations across individual dies, including differences in the stance of the eagle, the positioning of the legionary standards, and the folds of Jupiter's mantle, yet the essential compositional schema remained rigidly controlled.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Monetary Fate

Because the antoninianus issues of Elagabalus were struck in modest volumes over a span of fewer than two years, specimens of RIC IV Elagabalus 90f circulated within a monetary environment heavily dominated by older Severan and Antonine denarii. Hoard evidence from Roman Britain, Gaul, Germany, and the Danubian limes demonstrates that these radiates moved freely alongside both the earlier radiates of Caracalla and contemporary denarii. Due to Gresham's Law and the coin's intrinsic overvaluation, radiates were actively pooled in provincial payments and military contexts. However, the total quantity of Elagabalus's antoniniani remained a very small percentage of third-century hoard contents compared to the massive volumes of radiate coinage struck after the reforms of Gordian III and Decius. Over time, as systemic inflation escalated during the middle of the third century, older billon and silver issues like type 90f suffered gradual melting or aggressive wear. Many surviving specimens display moderate circulation wear consistent with protracted use through the mid-third century before final hoard deposition, while others were retained in savings hoards alongside better-quality early Severan silver.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan. pp. 581-586
2. Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700. pp. 125-132
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 90f. ric.4.el.90f
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 35-36, no. 90f
5. Under Divine Auspices: Divine Ideology and the Visualisation of Imperial Power in the Severan Period. pp. 165-178