Elagabalus Silver Denarius, RIC IV Elagabalus 19

Monetary Context

During the early Severan era and the subsequent reign of Elagabalus (AD 218 to 222), the silver denarius remained the primary silver denomination of imperial Roman currency, operating alongside the newly introduced double denarius (antoninianus) and an extensive suite of orichalcum and copper fractional denominations. The monetary environment of AD 219 was characterized by fiscal pressures inherited from the Caracallan and Macrinian conflicts, prompting the imperial treasury to strike high volumes of silver coin. Although Caracalla had debased the denarius to roughly 50 to 55 percent silver purity with a theoretical target weight near 3.1 to 3.2 grams, Macrinus had briefly attempted an upward adjustment. Under Elagabalus, production standards quickly settled back to the reduced Severan baseline. The denarius RIC IV Elagabalus 19 represents an official imperial emission minted to meet public obligations, including military salaries, donatives, and administrative expenditures, maintaining stability within daily transactions across the empire.

Production and Mints

The production of RIC IV Elagabalus 19 is attributed exclusively to the imperial mint situated in the city of Rome. The Rome mint was organized into specialized officinae, or workshops, capable of mass-producing coinage with consistent die preparation, blank casting, and striking techniques. Unlike the eastern provincial or traveling mints, such as Antioch, that operated during Elagabalus's initial rise in AD 218, the Rome mint displayed fine classical modeling and strict standardization in its dies by AD 219. Flans for this issue were cast in open moulds and struck by hand between upper and lower dies, resulting in characteristic variations in flan thickness, centering, and diameter, even while conforming to the typical denarius module of approximately 18 to 20 millimeters.

Obverse Design

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 19 features a right-facing portrait of the emperor portrayed as a youth. He is shown laureate, with the laurel wreath tied at the nape of his neck and ribbons extending downward, and his bust is draped in imperial fabric over the shoulders. The youthful, clean-shaven portrait exemplifies the earlier style of his reign, preceding the later appearance of facial hair or distinctive eastern religious vestments such as the horn motif. The engraving style adheres to the high relief and crisp detailing characteristic of the central mint in Rome, conveying an impression of classical composure designed to emphasize dynastic continuity with the Antonine and Severan lineage.

Reverse Design

The reverse iconography centers on the personification of Fortuna, the Roman deity presiding over luck, prosperity, and imperial fortune. She is draped in a stola and mantle and shown seated facing left on a low stool or backless seat. In her right hand, Fortuna holds a rudder resting vertically upon a celestial or terrestrial globe, symbolizing guidance and dominion over worldly affairs. In her left arm, she cradles a cornucopiae, the horn of plenty signifying material abundance and civic well-being. Directly below the seat rests a circular wheel, an attribute evoking the cyclical nature of fate and the safe return of the emperor (Fortuna Redux). This thematic composition offered a conventional visual reassurance of peace and divine favor following the political convulsions that unseated Macrinus.

Inscriptions and Epigraphy

The epigraphy of RIC IV Elagabalus 19 provides precise titular and chronological data. The obverse legend reads IMP ANTONINVS AVG, an abbreviated form of Imperator Antoninus Augustus. This inscription reflects Elagabalus's official adoption of the Antonine name to legitimize his claim as the supposed natural son of Caracalla. The reverse bears the continuous legend P M TR P II COS II P P, which unpacks as Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate II, Consul II, Pater Patriae. The reference to the chief pontificate, his second tenure of tribunician power, his second consulship, and his designation as father of the country securely situates the striking within the calendar year AD 219, as his second consulship began on January 1 of that year.

Typology and Chronological Sequence

Catalogued in Roman Imperial Coinage Volume IV Part II under number 19, this emission forms part of a cohesive group of dated denarii issued at Rome during AD 219. It corresponds to Cohen number 147 in early French numismatic taxonomy. The type is closely affiliated with companion issues bearing identical reverse inscriptions but depicting different divine personifications, such as Pax, Roma, or Providentia. Chronologically, RIC IV Elagabalus 19 succeeded the initial Rome issues of AD 218 (TR P) and preceded the emissions of AD 220 (TR P III COS III), marking the brief period in which Elagabalus exercised his second consulship prior to entering his third. Die linkages in the Severan series demonstrate that the seated Fortuna reverse was struck concurrently with other civic and religious types in the regular workshop rotations of the capital.

Circulation and Monetary Life

Once issued, denarii of the type RIC IV Elagabalus 19 entered the general currency pool of the Roman Empire, circulating alongside earlier Severan, Antonine, and Flavian silver coins. Hoard evidence from western provinces such as Britain and Gaul, as well as finds along the Danube frontier and in the eastern provinces, reveals that denarii minted under Elagabalus circulated widely and remained in active use for decades. Due to the rapid decline in silver fineness under Gordian III and the subsequent predominance of the antoninianus in the mid-third century AD, these earlier billon denarii were progressively hoarded, melted down, or retired by Gresham's Law. Many surviving specimens exhibit moderate to heavy wear consistent with protracted circulation through the crises of the mid-third century.

References

1. Description historique des monnaies frappees sous l'Empire romain, Tome IV. p. 336, no. 147
2. Coinage and Currency in Roman Britain. Chapter 6: The Severan Period
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 19. ric.4.el.19
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 29, no. 19