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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,844 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Here is a recent acquisition that I thought worthy of sharing. Elagabalus Denarius Obv:â€" IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate, horned, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev:â€" INVICTVS SACERDOS AVG, Elagabalus standing holding patera over an altar and branch. Star in right field. Horn on ground to his left Minted in Rome. A.D. 222 Referenceâ€" BMC 209 note. RIC 87 (where it is rated Common citing Cohen). RSC III 58. Cohen 58 (illustrated with star in right field) valued at 50 Fr. No examples in RD. ex Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG Sale 42, Lot 379, 20th November 2007, ex Barry Feirstein Collection, previously privately purchased from Harlan J. Berk. Described as Lightly toned and good extremely fine by NAC. 21 mm. 3.11 gms. 0 degrees. The coin would certainly seem to be scarcer than the "Common" rating given in RIC would imply. No examples in RD, only one example on acsearch (this coin). No examples on Wildwinds (the RIC 87 there would appear to be in error). The star behind the emperor would appear to be an error. The examples with star behind the emperor tend to be rare and there are quite a few examples where a die with the star behind the emperor has been re-engraved to eliminate this star and place the star before the emperor. The star apparently stood for his sun god, to whom the emperor was depicted sacrificing, and therefore it should have been placed before him.  Martin |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Very nice coin. What is that sticking out above the emperors head on the obverse? Almost looks like a horn.
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Pillar of the Community
Italy
1790 Posts |
WOW  It even has the horn ! Here is some history about the Horn I found from Lunalucifera.com "An unusual feature of the coinage is the horn extending forward from Elagabalus' forehead on a few of the series. Though less common than the non-horned portraits, they are still fairly easy to acquire. Horns were a long-established symbol of divinity in Eastern religions, and many examples can be seen in the coins of the Hellenistic dynasties. " Edited by Augustus Maximus
08/02/2014 8:32 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3444 Posts |
Yes indeed it has the 'horn' ! Quite the little gem of a coin it is too. Definitely an XF. Unusual too is the apparent facial hair. Unless mistaken he seems to have a moustache. We had a previous discussion not too long ago regarding a similar one which I had found.  Making a relatively quick search of these types it seems that 'it' (what ever it is) appears generally on the types with the "emperor sacrificing" reverse. Elagabalus holding the patera and the animal laying on the ground behind him. From the 'singular' nature of the horn we must presume the animal to be a .......... unicorn  Worth noting too that Elagabalus alone earned the distinction of having been "worse than Caligula". Quite an achievement that. Some ancient sources claim that sacrifices were performed which crossed the line so to speak. Perhaps they were exaggerating ........ Or perhaps not I like this denarius very much ! I am "olive green" with envy ....... Someday perhaps I may pull the trigger myself  |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1569 Posts |
That is a very nice coin, some interesting information too!
You will never soar like an eagle if you hang around with turkeys.....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4973 Posts |
Quote:
Unusual too is the apparent facial hair. Unless mistaken he seems to have a moustache. that caught my attention as well. but so did whole darn thing.... pretty coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
I have added a couple more Elagabalus coins in recent days and thought that I would inflict them on you. This is my most recent purchase. Elagabalus Denarius Obv:â€" IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate, horned, draped and cuirassed bust right Rev:â€" INVICTVS SACERDOS AVG, Elagabalus standing holding a patera over an altar and a club. Star in left field. Bull behind the altar Minted in Rome. A.D. 220-222 Referenceâ€" BMC 209-210. RIC 88. RSC III 61 A nice sharp reverse with a clearly defined bull behind the altar, which is not always so clear. The star has been decorated with dots at the end of each point and another in the centre. Elagabalus looks quite youthful. His facial hair has not yet developed to a ful beard. He can be seen wearing the "Horn" on his head.  I thought it worth posting another recent purchase alongside it for comparison. It is the same type but this time catalogued as RSC III 61b showing him slightly more mature with a full beard but no longer sporting his "Horn". The bull is not as clearly defined on this example. There is an intermediate type with a horn and full beard but I don't have an example to illustrate.  Martin |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3444 Posts |
I notice that while the second example is difficult to determine the reverse of the first new acquisition clearly shows Elagabalus wearing that "thing".
Your (original) first example reverse likewise seems not to have it either.
Buy one get one free ?
But I digress .......
Excellent looking coins ! And a most unusual area of concentration.
I had acquired a second Sestertius myself for a not inconciderable sum ! Unfortunately the realities of life required me to part ways with the one above.
I do miss it ...... As it was a highly valued 'member' of my collection
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
Great looking coins, congrats.
There was a post last year about his headgear and the "thing", nearly had me rolling on the floor! No time to look for the post at the moment, we have lightening and I have to turn the modem off!
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Valued Member
United States
61 Posts |
Sorry Martin but the type is definitely common (over 400 in coinvac.com) but not sure if you mean the variant with JUST the star to right in which case I'm sure you're correct.
Ras
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Hi Ras,
Wow. 400 examples comes as a bit of a surprise.
Discussions with Curtis Clay seemed to indicate it was a rare sub-type.
I know that the majority of the INVICTVS SACERDOS AVG types are common but my OP coin with the Horn on ground to his left (bottom right field) is not a variety I have been able to find many examples of. acsearch shows a single example, which is this coin, I have found one more example which was sold by CNG.
I do not have access to coinvac.com nor do I know what it does but I do know that RIC 88 coins (my OP coin) are often misattributed as RIC 87 as has happened on Wildwinds and DirtyOldCoins.
The reverse variant wasn't illustrated or mentioned in ERIC either. I will need to check ERIC II when I get home.
Regards,
Martin
Edited by maridvnvm
08/07/2014 04:22 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Ras, I just checked ERIC II and cannot find the reverse type illustrated there either. This would be T19 in ERIC II though the description is somewhat vague. The type is described there as Horn to left whereas elswhere it is described as horn to his right. Here is a close up of the lower part of the coin with the item on the RHS being the horn. This was sometimes described as a cap some time ago but is now usually described as a horn.  Regards, Martin Edited by maridvnvm
08/07/2014 2:30 pm
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Valued Member
United States
61 Posts |
I don't doubt you at all that the subtype is rare. After a quick scan I found another like this but would be surprised if in all those 400 SACERDOS types I found more than a handful of this exact variant. I don't know how to add the image within the post so I uploaded it to tantalus: http://www.tantaluscoins.com/coins/107358.phpRas |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Ras,
I was discussing the scarcity of this coin further with Curtis Clay. He has casts of 10 examples from 3 or 4 reverse dies. M. Thirion rated this variety R3 on a scale going up to R5=unique, in Les monnaies d'Elagabale, Brussels 1968, this coin being no. 252 in the catalog. My other two examples in this thread are common enough even in decent condition.
Regards,
Martin
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,844 |
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Posted 08/02/2014 8:31 pm
