Elagabalus Silver Quinarius RIC IV Elagabalus 110

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

The silver quinarius, valued at half a denarius or eight bronze asses, occupied a specialized tier within the Severan monetary system. Following the monetary reforms of Septimius Severus and Caracalla, the silver denarius had seen both a reduction in overall weight and a steady drop in fineness down to approximately forty to fifty percent silver. While the newly introduced antoninianus (double denarius) met rising military expenditure under Caracalla and was briefly continued under Macrinus and Elagabalus, the production of fractional silver such as the quinarius remained highly constrained. Under Elagabalus, quinarii were not minted in quantities comparable to regular denarii. Instead, the denomination appears primarily to have served ceremonial functions, particularly during ceremonial donatives, triumphs, or public largesses (congiaria). While the denarius standard under Elagabalus hovered between 3.0 and 3.2 grams, quinarii of the type RIC IV Elagabalus 110 were calibrated to half this weight, typically falling within the 1.4 to 1.7 gram range, with varying degrees of alloy debasement mirroring the contemporary denarius pool.

Mint Attribution and Production

Production of RIC IV Elagabalus 110 is securely assigned to the imperial mint at Rome. Although eastern mints, particularly Antioch, struck substantial silver issues during the early portion of the reign of Elagabalus, the stylistic treatment of the portraiture, fabric, and epigraphy of this specific quinarius aligns cleanly with the output of the central Roman officinae. Die production for fractional silver denominations required finely cut, compact dies executed by skilled engravers capable of rendering high relief on a flan often measuring under fifteen millimeters in diameter. Surviving examples demonstrate careful flan preparation and die-alignment tendencies typical of Rome's Severan mint practice, where striking was executed by hammered dies within a centralized and structured workshop framework.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC IV Elagabalus 110 presents a youthful, laureate bust of Elagabalus facing left, adorned with classical drapery over the shoulders. Left-facing busts are markedly scarce in the coinage of Elagabalus, where the vast majority of regular silver and bronze denominations feature the emperor looking to the right. In Roman imperial numismatics, leftward bust orientations on precious metal issues frequently denoted special prestige, deliberate design variation, or issues struck for notable state occasions. The portrait depicts the emperor with soft youthful contours, short curly hair crowned by a laurel wreath with ties hanging down the nape of the neck, and careful folds of drapery secured at the shoulder.

Reverse Iconography and Symbolism

The reverse iconography centers on Libertas, the personification of Roman constitutional freedom and imperial liberty. She stands draped and facing left, holding the traditional pileus (the conical felt cap granted to freed slaves upon manumission) in her outstretched right hand, and resting a tall sceptre upright in her left hand. The inclusion of the pileus evokes liberation and imperial generosity, emphasizing the emperor as a protector of Roman liberties. Notably, the type exhibits a distinct variant: in some specimens, a six- or eight-pointed star appears in the field, while on others the field remains empty. The star motif became a ubiquitous feature of later issues under Elagabalus, alluding to the celestial divinity Elagabal, the sun god of Emesa whose cult the emperor enthusiastically promoted in Rome.

Epigraphy and Legends

The obverse legend reads IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, an abbreviation for Imperator Antoninus Pius Augustus. This nomenclature reinforced the ruler's claimed dynastic descent from the popular Antonine emperors and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla), completely omitting his Syrian birth name of Varius Avitus Bassianus. The lettering is cleanly cut in compact imperial capitals arranged along the outer beaded border. The reverse bears the terse legend LIBERTAS AVG (Libertas Augusti), translating to 'the Liberty of the Augustus.' This concise proclamation explicitly associated the divine embodiment of liberty with the benevolence, constitutional sanction, and person of the reigning monarch.

Typology and Chronological Placement

In the structural framework established by Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham in Roman Imperial Coinage Volume IV Part II, this issue is classified under the undated Rome mint coinage of Elagabalus, spanning AD 218 to AD 222. Because the legend omits tribunician years or consulships, dating relies primarily on portrait development and the presence of the star on the reverse. Undated issues without the star were produced across the reign, whereas the addition of the celestial star is widely recognized as appearing on issues struck between late AD 220 and AD 222. RIC IV Elagabalus 110 encompasses both minor varieties (with and without the star), demonstrating that the type was either minted continuously across multiple emissions or revived as a recognized ceremonial type during the later years of the reign.

Circulation and Archaeological Context

Silver quinarii of the Severan era were rarely deposited in massive military hoarding contexts, which were dominated by denarii and, periodically, antoniniani. Instead, quinarii circulated at a lower volume and are more commonly recovered in dispersed urban settlement contexts, civilian purse-losses, or small, mixed domestic savings. Due to their reduced size and modest mint output, quinarii suffered less extensive mechanical wear before withdrawal or loss than their denarius counterparts. The survival of RIC IV Elagabalus 110 in modern public and private cabinets remains limited, confirming that fractional silver under Elagabalus held an elite or specialized circulation profile across the central empire.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. V: Pertinax to Elagabalus. p. 548
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC IV Elagabalus 110. ric.4.el.110
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus. p. 37, no. 110