173
.
3203
Elagabalus. Silver Denarius (3.0 g), AD 218-222.
Rome, AD 221/2. IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG,
laureate and draped bust of Elagabalus right.
Re-
verse:
LIBERTAS AVG, Libertas standing facing,
head left, holding pileus and scepter; in right field,
star. RIC 107; BMC 221; RSC 92. Well struck on
both sides and nicely centered.
Extremely Fine.
Estimated Value ................................... $200 - 250
3204
Elagabalus. Silver Denarius (3.1 g), AD 218-222.
Rome, AD 221/2. IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, lau-
reate and draped bust of Elagabalus right, with ‘horn’
above forehead.
Reverse:
SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG,
emperor standing facing, head left, sacrificing from pa-
tera over altar and holding branch; in left field, star. RIC
146; BMC 232-3; RSC 276. Well struck on both sides,
lightly toned.
Superb Extremely Fine.
The reverse presents Elagabalus as high priest of the
Emesan sun god, El-Gabal, an office he had inherited
(or perhaps purchased) through the machinations of
his grandmother, Julia Maesa. Elagabalus brought
the cult with him to Rome, but due to his religious fa-
natacism for the Emesan cult and his otherwise per-
verse eccentricities, he so offended the Roman pop-
ulace that the Praetorians mutinied and murdered
both the emperor and his mother, tossing their muti-
lated corpses into the Tiber to be washed out to sea.
Estimated Value ............................................. $200 - 250
Ex Goldberg 72 (5 February 2013), 4519 (part)
