Elagabalus Silver Denarius RIC IV Elagabalus 40b

Monetary Context and Severan Silver Policy

During the reign of Elagabalus, the Roman monetary system functioned under intense fiscal strain exacerbated by military pay increases and imperial donatives established under Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The silver denarius remained the primary coin for civilian commerce, state administrative expenditure, and legions stationed along the imperial frontiers. Caracalla had previously introduced the double denarius, or antoninianus, in 215 AD to alleviate bullion shortages, but this denomination experienced a temporary suspension under Elagabalus, who relied almost exclusively on standard denarii and traditional aes fractions for everyday transactions. Denarii produced under RIC IV Elagabalus 40b exhibit the reduced silver alloy characteristic of late Severan coinage. Metallurgical analyses conducted on Severan silver demonstrate that denarii struck at Rome around 221 AD typically possess an intrinsic silver content between forty and forty-six percent, balanced with copper and minor trace metals. Although earlier imperial standards were significantly purer, the mint of Rome maintained consistent physical weight tolerances for this issue, centering between 2.8 and 3.3 grams. This controlled debasement allowed the imperial treasury to meet expanding state obligations without causing an immediate breakdown in general public confidence, maintaining token purchasing power through state authority.

Production Technology and Mint Attribution

RIC IV Elagabalus 40b was produced exclusively at the primary imperial mint in Rome. By 221 AD, the urban mint operated with several organized workshops, or officinae, which simultaneously prepared blanks, cut dies, and struck coinage across multiple denominations. Blanks for these denarii were cast in clay or bronze mold trays, producing globular planchets that were subsequently hammered between hand-held intaglio dies. Flans from this phase often display irregular, slightly oval perimeters and occasional edge cracks resulting from mechanical stress during cold or warm striking. Die alignment for this specific emission adheres predominantly to a standard twelve o'clock or six o'clock axis, consistent with established Roman mint practices of the early third century AD. Engraving styles at Rome demonstrate refined technical skill, characterized by sharp lettering, balanced compositional spacing, and realistic anatomical modeling of the reverse figure. The distinctive treatment of the laurel wreath, drapery folds, and facial profile confirms execution by the experienced urban engravers of the capital rather than the cruder, stylistically distinct provincial mints operating concurrently at Antioch or Nicomedia.

Obverse Portraiture and Typology

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 40b presents a right-facing bust of Elagabalus depicted as an adolescent ruler. He is shown wearing the laurel wreath, the traditional Roman symbol of victorious imperial majesty, with the wreath ties extending down the nape of the neck. In accordance with the precise sub-typology of 40b, the bust is draped, showing the gathered folds of the paludamentum over the shoulders without the prominent cuirass that defines subtype 40a. The portrait reflects the established Severan iconographic tradition, presenting soft facial contours, an aquiline nose, prominent eyes, and a youthful chin lacking full facial hair. This idealized portrait served an essential political objective: reinforcing the dynastic fiction that Elagabalus was the legitimate natural son of Caracalla. By mirroring the youthful portraiture of Caracalla from his early joint reign with Septimius Severus, the die carvers systematically reassured the Roman senate, plebeians, and military garrisons of the regime's hereditary stability.

Reverse Iconography and Solar Symbolism

The reverse of the coin features an active rendering of Sol, the Roman sun god. Sol is portrayed radiate, crowned with rays emanating from his head, and completely naked except for a light military cloak (chlamys) fastened across his left shoulder and billowingly suspended behind his body. He strides dynamically to the left, raising his right hand in an open-palm gesture of benediction and cosmic authority, while his lowered left hand holds a coiled whip, denoting his role as the celestial charioteer who guides the sun across the heavens. Positioned within the field, typically to the upper left or right, is an engraved star. This astral element possesses profound ideological significance: while the figure retains the anthropomorphic body of traditional Greco-Roman Sol, the prominent star alongside the solar whip evokes Syrian astral worship and the sacred black stone of Emesa, Elagabal. The coin thus presents a deliberate visual synthesis, harmonizing conventional Roman solar imagery with the emperor's radical devotion to his ancestral eastern sun cult without violating orthodox Roman iconographic boundaries.

Epigraphy and Titulature

The inscriptions on RIC IV Elagabalus 40b provide an unambiguous dating framework and articulate the official imperial ideology of the court. The obverse legend reads IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, an abbreviated Latin formula expanding to Imperator Antoninus Pius Augustus. In this text, Imperator denotes supreme military command, Antoninus links the ruler directly to the venerable Antonine lineage, Pius proclaims filial piety and religious devotion, and Augustus designates supreme constitutional majesty. The omission of any reference to Elagabalus's birth name, Varius Avitus Bassianus, reflects official state epigraphy, which recognized him solely as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. The reverse legend bears the dated titular formula P M TR P IIII COS III P P, expanding to Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate IIII, Consul III, Pater Patriae. The office of Pontifex Maximus affirms his position as chief priest of the Roman state religion, while Pater Patriae honors him as father of the country. Crucially, the combination of Tribunicia Potestate IIII (fourth renewal of tribunician power) and Consul III (third consulship) firmly dates the production of this type to 221 AD.

Typological Classification and Chronological Placement

Within the system established in Roman Imperial Coinage, the denarii of Elagabalus dated by TR P IIII form a well-defined chronological series minted throughout 221 AD. Type 40 is distinguished from other issues of the same year by the dynamic advancing posture of Sol and the presence of the whip and field star. The primary catalogue division separates the type into sub-varieties based entirely on the emperor's obverse attire: RIC 40a displays a bust that is both draped and cuirassed, whereas RIC 40b designates the variety bearing a draped bust without visible breastplate armor. The year 221 AD was a critical period of intense political crisis and recalibration in Rome. Facing mounting discontent among the Praetorian Guard and urban population over his religious innovations, Elagabalus was persuaded by his grandmother, Julia Maesa, to formally adopt his cousin Severus Alexander as Caesar. The issue of RIC 40b was struck during this volatile year, running alongside parallel types depicting the emperor sacrificing over a lighted altar, thereby balancing traditional administrative titulature with solar religious propaganda.

Circulation, Hoard Evidence, and Survival

Once released from the mint of Rome, specimens of RIC IV Elagabalus 40b circulated widely throughout the western and Danubian provinces of the empire. Denarii of Elagabalus frequently served as troop pay along the Rhine and Danube river systems and supplied administrative hubs in Roman Britain, Gaul, and Italy. Extensive numismatic documentation from major third-century coin hoards corroborates the widespread presence of this type in general circulation. In the massive Reka Devnya hoard uncovered in Bulgaria, which contained over eighty thousand Severan and early third-century denarii, numerous specimens of Elagabalus's TR P IIII Sol issues were catalogued, confirming their high production volume. These coins remained in active commercial circulation for several decades after Elagabalus's assassination in 222 AD, gradually accumulating wear until mid-third-century monetary reforms and hyper-debasements under Gordian III and Decius prompted systemic hoarding and widespread melting for lower-grade antoniniani.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 556-558
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 647-658
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 31-34, no. 40b
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 40b. RIC IV Elagabalus 40b