Elagabalus (AD 218-222). AR denarius (19mm, 3.35 gm, 11h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 4/5. Antioch, AD 218-219. ANTONINVS PIVS FELIX AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus right, seen from behind / SANCT DEO SOLI, slow quadriga right, the car bearing conical stone of Emesa decorated with a standing eagle on its surface, surrounded by four parasols; ELAGABAL in exergue. RIC IV.II 196. Well-centered on deeply toned flan. Superbly attractive in hand and a very handsome specimen of this immensely popular and scarce type. Ex Bolaffi Spa, Auction 37 (9 July 2020), lot 306 "Elagabalus" is the name of the Syrian solar deity worshipped in Emesa, the city from which the female side of the Severan dynasty derived. The god was embodied in a black conical stone, probably a meteorite, kept within an elaborate temple. The emperor now commonly called Elagabalus started out life as Varius Avitus Bassianus, the grandson of Julia Maesa, sister to the Empress Julia Domna. After assuming the purple, he took the name Antoninus Pius in imitation of his maternal uncle (now commonly called Caracalla). As a priest of Elagabalus, after winning the throne, he ordered the Stone of Emesa brought to Rome in a special chariot, paraded in procession with priests and acolytes the entire way from Syria. The chariot is seen on the reverse of this rare coin type from the mint of Antioch.

HID09801242017

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