Elagabalus Silver Denarius, RIC IV Elagabalus 17B

Monetary Context and Weight Standard

During the reign of Elagabalus (AD 218 to 222), the Roman imperial monetary system continued along the trajectory shaped by the earlier Severan debasements. The silver denarius, though nominally the primary silver unit since the early Principate, had experienced progressive reductions in silver fineness and weight since the reign of Septimius Severus. Following the fiscal experimentation of Caracalla, who introduced the radiate double denarius (antoninianus) alongside the traditional denarius, the Rome mint continued to strike both denominations under Elagabalus, though the production of denarii remained vital for regular state disbursements, military pay, and administrative obligations throughout Italy and the provinces. By AD 219, when RIC IV Elagabalus 17B was minted, the imperial denarius was produced at an average theoretical weight of approximately 3.0 to 3.2 grams, struck on relatively thin flans. Metallurgical studies of Severan silver demonstrate that the metallic content of denarii from this period fluctuated around 40 to 46 percent silver, with the remainder composed primarily of copper and trace elements introduced during alloying. This reduced intrinsic value reflects the relentless inflationary pressure on the imperial treasury and the immense costs of securing military loyalty. RIC IV Elagabalus 17B fits squarely within this operational context, serving as an everyday medium of exchange struck in massive volume to meet state expenditures.

Production and Mint Organization

The issue RIC IV Elagabalus 17B was produced exclusively at the imperial mint in Rome. While provincial and eastern branch mints such as Antioch also operated during the reign to strike imperial-style coinage, stylistic criteria, flan characteristics, and epigraphic conventions firmly place this type within the metropolitan workshops of the capital. Mint operations at Rome during the Severan period were structured into distinct officinae (workshops), which shared the burden of die preparation, flan casting, and striking across various denominations and reverses. Die engravers at Rome operated under established artistic traditions, producing finely detailed portraits with distinctive hair rendering and fabric folds on the emperor's drapery. Flans were cast in open or two-part molds and struck hot or warm, leading to typical edge cracking and minor centering irregularities common to late Severan strikes. The surviving specimens of this specific type indicate the use of multiple obverse and reverse die pairings, demonstrating that production of this solar reverse was not an isolated celebratory strike but part of an organized, sustained emission produced across one or more officinae during the administrative year AD 219.

Obverse Iconography and Bust Treatment

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 17B features the youthful portrait of Elagabalus facing right. Under the classification schema of the Roman Imperial Coinage, the cataloguer's letter suffix distinguishes specific portrait drapery variations within type 17. Specifically, type 17B represents the portrait variety characterized as laureate and draped, omitting the cuirass that appears on other sub-types such as 17A. The laurel wreath encircles the cropped, curled hair of the young emperor, with wreath ties falling down the back of the neck. The drapery is gathered across the shoulders, visible at the base of the truncation and over the chest. This portraiture deliberately emulates the numismatic likenesses of Caracalla and Marcus Aurelius, whom Elagabalus's family claimed as direct dynastic forebears to legitimize his claim to supreme power. The idealized facial features emphasize youthful nobility rather than realistic personal idiosyncratic traits, a convention systematically employed by the Rome mint during the initial two years of his reign before more mature or idiosyncratic eastern elements occasionally influenced his portraiture.

Reverse Iconography: Sol Invictus

The reverse design presents the solar deity Sol standing left, entirely naked except for a chlamys (cloak) draped over his left shoulder and falling behind his arm. His head is adorned with a radiate crown, signifying the celestial rays of the sun. In his left hand, Sol holds a whip, an attribute derived from his role as the celestial charioteer guiding the quadriga of the sun across the heavens. His right arm is extended and raised in an ancient gesture of greeting, protection, and supreme divine authority. While Elagabalus is historically known for his profound devotion to the sun god of Emesa, Elagabal, the iconographic treatment seen on RIC IV Elagabalus 17B conforms entirely to the classical Greco-Roman iconographic model of Sol rather than the aniconic sacred stone (baetyl) or eastern sacrificial motifs that appeared later in the reign. Roman mint engravers had utilized this identical representation of Sol under Septimius Severus and Caracalla, symbolizing cosmic order, the renewal of time, and the divine protection of the imperial office. The image thus projected an aura of continuity and religious orthodoxy acceptable to traditional Roman senatorial sensibilities.

Epigraphy and Legends

The inscriptions on RIC IV Elagabalus 17B adhere strictly to established imperial formulas while providing vital chronological precision. The obverse legend reads IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG (Imperator Antoninus Pius Augustus). This legend omits the earlier nomenclature Varius Avitus Bassianus in favor of the full dynastic name assumed to link the young prince directly to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla) and the Antonine Golden Age. The reverse inscription reads P M TR P II COS II P P, expanding to Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate Secundum, Consul Secundum, Pater Patriae. This text records the core magistracies and honors held by the prince: Chief Priest of the Roman state religion, holder of the tribunician power for the second time, consul for the second time, and Father of the Fatherland. The lettering is cleanly cut in Roman capitals with uniform proportions, surrounding the perimeter of the coin inside a dotted border. The explicit mention of the second tribunician power and second consulship securely restricts the issue to the year AD 219, as Elagabalus entered his second consulship on January 1, AD 219, alongside Quintus Tineius Sacerdos.

Typology and Chronological Placement

Within the typology of Severan coinage, RIC IV Elagabalus 17B belongs to the dated series struck early in the emperor's reign at Rome. In the Roman Imperial Coinage catalog, type 17 is divided based on bust drapery varieties: 17A denotes a laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust, whereas 17B specifies the laureate and draped bust without cuirass. Parallel dated denarii from AD 219 also depict other traditional divinities and personifications, including Pax, Roma, and Fides, forming a comprehensive thematic program for that administrative year. The inclusion of Sol on an early Rome mint issue indicates that solar imagery was embraced immediately upon Elagabalus's accession, utilizing existing artistic templates before the formal introduction of the Emesene cult's foreign attributes in later years (such as the horn or the processional chariot carrying the sacred black stone). Because Roman imperial tribunician renewals occurred either on the anniversary of accession or on December 10, the combination of TR P II and COS II firmly anchors the production of this type to AD 219, prior to the assumption of his third consulship in AD 220.

Circulation and Hoard Evidence

Denarii of type RIC IV Elagabalus 17B circulated widely throughout the provinces and military garrisons of the Roman Empire. Because Gresham's Law and fiscal inflation continually pushed higher-purity coinage out of circulation, the debased Severan denarii remained the workhorse medium in commercial markets and military camps through the AD 220s and 230s. Hoard evidence from Britain, the Rhine frontier, the Danubian provinces, and the Mediterranean basin confirms that denarii of AD 219 frequently circulated alongside earlier issues of Septimius Severus and Caracalla, as well as subsequent strikes of Severus Alexander. These coins remained in active circulation until the massive monetary crisis of the mid-third century, when the rapid debasement and proliferation of the double denarius under Gordian III, Philip I, and Decius finally marginalized the traditional denarius denomination. Surviving specimens often exhibit light to moderate wear consistent with several decades of continuous commercial handling before deposition.

References

1. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 598-610
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 535-538, no. 96
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 30, no. 17b
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 17B. RIC IV Elagabalus 17B