Elagabalus Silver Denarius RIC IV Elagabalus 56a

Monetary Context and the Severan Denarius

During the reign of Elagabalus from AD 218 to AD 222, the Roman imperial currency system operated on the foundations laid by the Severan dynasty. Septimius Severus had reduced the fineness of the denarius in AD 194 to approximately fifty percent, a benchmark that was subsequently challenged by military spending, administrative costs, and donatives under Caracalla and Macrinus. Caracalla introduced the double denarius, or antoninianus, in AD 215, but the traditional silver denarius remained the primary unit for routine civil taxation, market commerce, and state disbursements throughout Elagabalus's principate. Denarii struck under Elagabalus maintained a nominal standard of roughly three grams, though empirical measurements across hoards reveal a wider dispersion between 2.6 and 3.4 grams. The metallurgical standard hovered between forty and forty-six percent silver, with the remainder composed primarily of copper and trace elements like lead and tin. The issuance of RIC IV Elagabalus 56a falls squarely into this debased monetary regime. Silver denarii of this era served essential ideological functions alongside their transactional role, conveying messages of material prosperity, civic stability, and divine legitimacy. By invoking Abundantia, imperial monetary authorities sought to reassure Roman citizens of agricultural abundance, regular food subsidies, and economic security despite escalating political tension and institutional volatility.

Mint Organization and Production Techniques

RIC IV Elagabalus 56a was produced in large quantities by the primary imperial mint operating in the city of Rome. Although earlier scholars occasionally debated Eastern versus Western mint attributions for some of Elagabalus's early coinage, stylistic and metallurgical research firmly situates this specific type, marked by the classic Severan lettering and Rome style portraits, within the capital's central workshops (officinae). Die engravers prepared matched pairs of hardened bronze or iron dies, cutting the obverse portrait in relatively high relief and executing the reverse iconography with standard iconographic attributes. The production process involved casting blank flans from molten argentiferous copper alloy, which were then cold-adjusted or struck hot between the dies using hand hammers. Striking irregularities, such as slightly off-center strikes, minor flan cracking at the margins, and die flow lines, are common features of this mass-produced series. The operational structure of the Rome mint during this phase relied on several officinae operating concurrently, ensuring the rapid output of denarii to meet the imperial payroll and continuous treasury demands. Die linkage studies in Severan numismatics suggest that reverse dies wore out and fractured more rapidly than the lower, recessed obverse dies, leading to diverse die combinations across the emission.

Obverse Iconography and Portraiture

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 56a features a right-facing, laureate head of the youthful emperor. In Roman numismatic portraiture, the laurel wreath served as an enduring symbol of imperial victory, sovereign authority, and sacred favor dating back to the Augustan settlement. The portraiture of Elagabalus evolves chronologically across his brief reign, beginning with juvenile, idealized features closely modeled on those of Caracalla to reinforce his claim of direct paternity, and gradually shifting toward a more distinctive portrayal with slight side whiskers, individualized facial contours, and naturalistic hair curls. In RIC IV 56a, the bust is rendered as a clean head without heavy drapery or cuirass, focusing artistic attention on the imperial countenance. The execution of the portrait reflects the skilled classical tradition maintained by the master engravers of the Rome mint. The die cutters delineated the ties of the laurel wreath trailing down the neck, while carefully rendering the facial profile with smooth cheek surfaces and a sharp nose. This portrait type maintained continuity with the established Severan artistic canon, presenting the emperor not as an alien religious figure, but as a legitimate Roman princeps and commander.

Reverse Iconography: Abundantia and the Star

The reverse design of this type features the personification of Abundantia (or closely associated Annona), depicted as a draped female figure standing left. She holds a cornucopiae, the classical horn of plenty, and tilts it downward to empty its agricultural bounty onto the ground, symbolizing the unreserved generosity of the emperor toward the populace. In ancient Roman religion and civic propaganda, Abundantia embodied the steady inflow of wealth, harvest fertility, and guaranteed supply of staples. A key distinguishing attribute of RIC IV Elagabalus 56a is the presence of an open star in the reverse field, located either in the left or right field depending on die execution. The star has been interpreted by numismatists and historians through multiple complementary lenses. While stars often designated specific mint issues or collegial markings under earlier dynasties, during Elagabalus's reign the motif became deeply intertwined with his promotion of the Syrian sun god Elagabal. The star served as an explicit solar and celestial emblem, signaling divine blessing over the emperor's rule and identifying the supreme solar patron as the true source of earthly fertility and imperial peace. The visual synthesis of traditional Roman Abundantia with the cosmic star highlights the complex blending of Roman civic expectation and eastern solar religion that characterized the court.

Epigraphic Analysis and Imperial Titulature

The legends on RIC IV Elagabalus 56a are executed in crisp Latin capital script and follow standard imperial formulae. The obverse reads IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, an abbreviation for Imperator Antoninus Pius Augustus. This epigraphic formula was of paramount political importance. By officially adopting the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius, Elagabalus legally and visually erased his birth name of Varius Avitus Bassianus, identifying directly with Caracalla and the Antonine Golden Age. The title Imperator signifies his supreme military command, while Pius emphasizes his filial devotion and religious piety, and Augustus confirms his supreme constitutional status. On the reverse, the legend reads ABVNDANTIA AVG, which abbreviates Abundantia Augusti, meaning the Abundance of the Emperor. This inscription directly links the imperial office to divine providence, asserting that material sustenance and prosperity flowed directly from the virtue and governance of the princeps. The lettering is regular, with clear triangular serifs typical of the Severan epigraphic tradition at Rome, although variations in letter spacing, letter height, and punctuation exist across individual dies.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the framework of Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham's Roman Imperial Coinage, volume IV part II, type 56 represents the Abundantia standing reverse issued under Elagabalus. Subtype 56a is specifically catalogued as displaying the laureate head facing right, whereas subtype 56b designates specimens exhibiting a draped or cuirassed bust. The issue is traditionally dated within the broad span of AD 218 to 222, though many authorities narrow its striking period to circa AD 220 to 222 based on the appearance of the star symbol across multiple Rome mint series. The star motif becomes ubiquitous on imperial issues after the arrival of Elagabalus in Rome and the formal consecration of the Elagabalium on the Palatine Hill. Within the broader typological sequence, RIC IV 56a belongs to the undated substantive series of silver denarii that circulated alongside dated tribunician issues. It forms a thematic group with related personification issues celebrating Annona, Fides, Pax, and Providentia, which collectively sought to broadcast normalcy, divine protection, and public welfare amidst simmering discontent among the Praetorian Guard and senatorial aristocracy.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Denarii of Elagabalus, including RIC IV 56a, circulated widely across both Mediterranean core provinces and militarized frontier zones. Archaeological hoard evidence throughout Roman Britain, Gaul, the Rhine-Danube frontier, and the Levant demonstrates that denarii of this issue remained in active commercial circulation for several decades after Elagabalus's death. Because the Severan denarius standard remained relatively stable between the reigns of Caracalla and Severus Alexander, these coins were readily accepted alongside older issues of Septimius Severus and newer issues of Alexander. However, hoards from the mid-third century indicate that as the empire underwent severe monetary debasement during the reigns of Gordian III, Philip I, and Decius, the public increasingly hoarded older Severan denarii for their comparatively higher silver content or exchanged them at tariffed premiums against the rapidly depreciating double denarius. Stray finds and excavation records from civilian settlements, auxiliary forts, and rural villas confirm that RIC IV 56a participated in routine daily transactions, tax payments, and long-distance trade before being progressively retired from general circulation during the currency reforms of the late third century.

References

1. Le Buste Monétaire des Empereurs Romains, Vol. II. pp. 450-456
2. Coin Hoards and Hoarding in the Roman Empire. pp. 82-95
3. Coinage and Taxation: The Severan Epoch. pp. 110-125
4. Coining Images of Power: Language and Images of Severan Dynastic Legitimacy. pp. 175-188
5. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 535-540
6. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 56a. ric.4.el.56a
7. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. pp. 31-32, no. 56a