Elagabalus Silver Denarius, RIC IV Elagabalus 56b

Monetary Context and Economic Background

During the reign of Elagabalus, the Roman monetary system operated under severe structural strains inherited from the turbulent succession following the assassination of Caracalla in AD 217 and the brief reign of Macrinus. The denarius served as the fundamental silver accounting unit and payment medium for the Roman state, particularly for meeting the formidable expenses of the imperial army, administrative salaries, and civic subsidies in the capital. To maintain these massive fiscal obligations amidst an expanding military establishment, the imperial administration continued the trajectory of metallurgical debasement that had characterized Severan monetary policy. Under Elagabalus, the silver content of the denarius hovered around forty to forty-five percent fineness, with average specimen weights clustering near 3.0 to 3.2 grams. Alongside the denarius, the double-denarius or antoninianus, initially introduced by Caracalla in AD 215, experienced erratic production before being temporarily suspended during the later phase of Elagabalus's reign. Consequently, regular silver denarii such as RIC IV Elagabalus 56b formed the primary workhorse denomination of everyday imperial expenditure, reflecting the persistent necessity to project financial stability and abundance despite real inflationary pressures and creeping debasement throughout the empire.

Mint Organization and Production Techniques

The issue designated as RIC IV Elagabalus 56b was struck exclusively at the principal imperial mint in Rome. By the early third century AD, the Rome mint was a highly structured, centralized manufacturing operation divided into administrative workshops, or officinae, which processed refined bullion into uniform flans and executed striking operations at high volume. Production utilized engraved bronze or iron dies that were paired in manual striking presses. Flan preparation involved melting silver and copper alloys into precise ingots, casting globular blanks, and subsequently hot- or cold-striking them between the lower anvil die and the upper hammer die. Surviving coins of this issue display characteristic minting features of Severan production, including slightly irregular planchet edges, occasional die axis variations clustering around twelve o'clock or six o'clock, and visible traces of die wear over extended production cycles. While Eastern mints such as Antioch also operated during parts of Elagabalus's reign to support local regional needs and military movements, the stylistic execution and fabric of RIC IV Elagabalus 56b strictly conform to the disciplined epigraphic and artistic habits of the Roman metropolitan engravers.

Obverse Portraiture and Style

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 56b presents a right-facing portrait bust of the emperor, laureate and draped. Engravers at the Rome mint captured the features of Elagabalus with careful attention to dynastic continuity, deliberately aligning his physiognomy with that of his purported father, Caracalla. The imperial portrait displays adolescent traits, rendered with prominent eyes, slightly arched brows, and softly modelled facial contours that reflect his accession at the age of fourteen. The laurel wreath rests securely on his head, tied at the occiput with two falling lemnisci (ribbons) that drape onto the nape of the neck. The drapery across the shoulders is arranged in classic Roman fashion, folding across the chest and back to evoke dignified civic and military leadership. This portrait formulation represents the canonical metropolitan Severan bust style, distinguishing it from the cuirassed variant classified as RIC IV Elagabalus 56a or the more severe, mature depictions that emerged in the final years of the dynasty under Severus Alexander.

Reverse Iconography and the Solar Star

The reverse design of this catalogue type depicts the personification Abundantia (alternatively interpreted in early scholarship as Annona), draped in long garments and standing turned toward the left. In her arms she cradles a cornucopiae, tilting it downward to empty a continuous stream of fruits, grain, or wealth onto the ground below. This gesture embodies the concept of abundantia, symbolizing the boundless generosity of the emperor and the guaranteed fertility and food supply of the Roman state. A crucial diagnostic element of RIC IV Elagabalus 56b is the prominent star engraved in the field, positioned either to the left or right of the figure depending on the specific working die. While personifications of abundance had long populated Roman coinage, the addition of the celestial star carries profound ideological significance under Elagabalus. Rather than functioning purely as an officina mark, numismatists recognize the star as an emblem of the Syrian sun god Elagabal, of whom the emperor was the earthly sacerdos amplissimus (highest priest). The coin thus conflates traditional Roman civic plenty with the divine favor and celestial power of the emperor's patron deity.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The legends on RIC IV Elagabalus 56b are engraved in standard Roman imperial capital lettering, executed with clarity and disciplined spacing along the coin borders. The obverse legend reads IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, standing for Imperator Antoninus Pius Augustus. This epigraphic formula was adopted to reinforce the fiction that Elagabalus was the legitimate offspring of Caracalla (officially Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius), thereby connecting his reign directly to the beloved Antonine golden age and the established Severan house. The reverse legend carries the concise inscription ABVNDANTIA AVG, abbreviating Abundantia Augusti, meaning 'the Abundance of the Augustus'. By linking the personification directly to the person of the emperor through the genitive Augusti, the legend explicitly asserts that imperial rule is the active source and guarantor of universal prosperity. The letterforms exhibit neat serifs characteristic of third-century Roman die cutting, framed within neat outer borders of dots.

Typology, Dating, and Sub-Varieties

In the framework of Roman Imperial Coinage, type 56 of Elagabalus's Rome mint coinage is split based on the bust truncation: 56a denotes a laureate and cuirassed bust, whereas 56b designates the laureate and draped bust. While the overarching chronological span of Elagabalus's reign extends from AD 218 to 222, numismatic studies demonstrate that denarii bearing a star in the reverse field belong predominantly to the later phase of his rule. The introduction of the star on imperial issues gathered momentum around AD 220 to 222, coinciding with the public elevation of the cult of the Emesene sun stone in Rome and the emperor's increasingly overt display of priestly titles. Because the legend on RIC IV Elagabalus 56b omits tribunician dates, consulships, or explicit priestly designations, its precise chronological placement relies on stylistic alignment and hoard associations with dated star-marked types, firmly establishing it as a mid-to-late reign product struck between AD 220 and early 222.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Record

Denarii of RIC IV Elagabalus 56b circulated widely throughout the western and Danubian provinces, as well as the Italian peninsula. Archaeological findspots, river deposits, and coin hoards across Britannia, Gallia, Germania, and Pannonia show that Elagabalus's debased silver circulated freely alongside older denarii of the Severan dynasty and earlier Flavian and Antonine survivors. Because Gresham's Law often incentivized the hoarding of older, higher-fineness silver, contemporary Severan denarii saw extensive daily commercial use in marketplace transactions and tax payments. Hoard evidence indicates that these coins remained in circulation through the reign of Severus Alexander (AD 222 to 235) and well into the mid-third century crisis, gradually disappearing from active currency only during the wholesale monetary collapse and massive billon issues of the AD 250s and 260s. Many recovered specimens exhibit moderate to heavy wear, indicating that they performed active economic exchange for decades after Elagabalus's damnatio memoriae.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. pp. 535-540
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan Decius. pp. 671-678
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 33, no. 56b
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 56b. ric.4.el.56b