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Coin Type: Silver denarius of Elagabalus, 218-222 CE
Mint and Date: Rome, 221-222 CE
Size and Weight: 18mm x 19mm, 2.7 g
Obverse: Draped, laureate, horned bust right with moustache.
IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG
Reverse: Elagabalus standing left in Syrian priestly robes, sacrificing from patera
over flaming tripod altar. Laurel branch in left hand, held downwards.
SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG
Field marks: Star in l. field, remains of erased
star in r. field.
Provenance:Curtis Clay (personal exchange), January 2007
Ref: RCV (2002) 7549; RIC IV 146
BW Ref: 029 030 102
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Note: This excellent and interesting coin (together with an as of Herennia Etruscilla)
was given to me by Curtis Clay in exchange for this one, which is not in
the British Museum's collection. Curtis says
of the coin he gave me: "a similar SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG denarius. This is the standard type, sacrificing
left not right, but also an interesting variety, that I discovered myself: the engraver first placed
the "star" behind the emperor, then eradicated it in the die and re-engraved it in front of the emperor,
obviously because it represents the emperor's sun god, so should be placed before him when he is depicted
sacrificing to his god! There are quite a few dies of each of the four "emperor-sacrificing" types on which
this correction was made, and NO surviving coins of these regular types with the star erroneously behind
the emperor. On the rare first versions of the types, in contrast, one of which you have given me, the
star is invariably wrong, that is behind the emperor rather than in front of him. The eradicated star
dies are obviously the first of the new types, as confirmed by the portrait of the emperor, with moustache
but still without beard, whereas most coins of these types show the chin beard."
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