1st ELAGABALUS DENARIUS

I've been after one of these for years! Now i have one It's been quite a month for me with Roman coins, with the breakage of the Trajan denarius(agony) and the acquiring bronzes of the ladies of Rome to this little nicety that came in today. My 1st thoughts(and they are not totally dispelled) was this coin had been smoothed. But after viewing the examples in the Wildwinds of this coin, i'm more apt to think maybe just cleaned. That could be debated, so i'm all ears

Elagabalus 218-222 ad.
Roma seated left holding Victory and spear, shield below
RIC 13 136

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I don't think it's been smoothed. I think you're seeing the results of cleaning and it looks fine to me.

Here's an antoninianus of Elagabalus.


Elagabalus, AD 218-222
Roman AR Antoninianus; 5.17 g, 21.3 mm
Rome, AD 219
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS AVG, radiate and draped bust, right
Rev: P M TR PII COSII P P, Fortuna enthroned left, holding rudder on globe and cornucopiae; wheel below seat
Refs: RIC 18; BMCRE 94; Cohen 148; RCV 7495

 

It's a good portrait of Elagabalus. Congrats on that sweet denarius.

Here's mine with the cool beard.

 

Here he is with a horn on his head!


Elagabalus, AD 218-222
Roman AR Denarius; 18.3 mm, 3.20 gm
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right, with horn on top of his head, signifying divine power
REV: SACRD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB, Elagabalus, in priestly robes, standing right, sacrificing over altar and holding cypress branch, star in field, right
Refs: RIC 131; BMCRE 225; Cohen 246; RCV 7542

 

Nice coin. I like the portrait too. Does not look smoothed to me.

 

i was noticing that lil thang that kinda looks like a critter behind Romas feet..anyone else see that?

 

It's the way the bases of the thrones are often portrayed. This is a particularly clear example:

 

Nice!

 

atta-boy, greg => congrats on scoring that cool OP-Elagabalus

=> here are my only two examples ...

 

O,Ok thanks RC

 

I think you have a nice coin there. I think that coins of Elagabalus in general suffer from weak strikes and are easy to wear poorly. Yours looks nice.

 

My only currency of Elagabale
ELAGABALE Bronze struck in Nicopolis
A / AVTKMLVF LHTLNEINOC
Elagabale, draped and head radiated
R / VPNOBIOVFOVFOV NIKOPOAITLN TRO CI
Apollo standing up sacrifices above an altar, a hook in his right hand and a twig in the left.
Weight: 9.88 g. Diameter: 26 mm.

 

Yeah, what is the deal with the horn? I've seen several coins of Elagabalus with hornlike appendages sticking from his head. Surely this wasn't intentional. Why would an emperor allow something like that on his coins? Could it be a poorly rendered laurel leaf?

Here's my example. It looks like a transition phase between laurel leaf and a horn:

Silver Denarius
Rome mint, A.D. 221
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG
Rev: P M TR P IIII COS III P P - Elagabalus, standing left, sacrificing with patera over altar and holding branch; star in left field
RIC 46
19mm, 1.9g.

 

The identity of the "horn" is unknown but in 1997 a German numismatist theorized that it was a symbol of potency (the penis of a bull), probably part of his Syrian high priest attire. True or not, the bull penis identity seems to have taken hold-- I suspect because it is in line with the popular opinion that Elagabalus was one freakydeaky dude. It seems to have created a premium for coins of his which are prominently endowed with the feature .

The article:
Krengel, E. “Das sogenannte “Horn” des Elagabal – Die Spitze eines Steierpenis”, Jahrbuch fur Numismatik und Geldgeschichte 47 (1997)

Link to the article on academia.edu

It's written in German so I haven't tried to read it (my only German is knowing how to count to ten, plus coin grade words ). I may try to use one of those free online .pdf or .jpg translators. The article includes four or so pictures of bull penises next to coins with the "horned" Elagabalus, apparently demonstrating the the variation in curvature and size of various bull phalli. (Can I get a group "eww" on that? )

The "horn" appears only on some of his imperial coins. It is not seen on any of his provincials.


Elagabalus
AR denarius, Rome mint. Struck CE 221-222. 3.55 gm
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG; laureate and draped bust right, with “horn” on forehead
Rev: SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGAB; Elagabalus standing right, holding club and sacrificing from patera over lighted altar; star to right; faint star in left field (likely engraved and then mostly removed by grinding the field).
Ref: RIC IV 131; Thirion 302; RSC 246


No horn on the next one but it's my favorite Elagabalus imperial coin


Elagabalus
AR denarius, 19.4 mm, 3.5 gm
Antioch, CE 218-219
Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right
Rev: SANCT DEO SOLI / ELAGABAL, Quadriga right, bearing sacred baetyl of Emesa, flanked by four parasols
Ref: RIC IV 195
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-a-boy-and-his-stone.254886/

 

Yes, well that explains how such a silly conjecture could become so readily accepted. As both your top coin and mine show, the "horn" is probably just part of the laurel wreath.

 

I don't believe it is just part of the laurel wreath. Embellishments of laurel wreaths were apparently not unknown. I don't yet have an opinion on what the horn may be but it looks like whatever I come up with will be the same as everyone else's opinion: speculation.

I'm in the middle of doing screen shots of the German article, converting to Word, and dropping into Google Translate. I'm curious about the article .

 

Congrats on the new addition @gregarious here is my humble example.

 

Interesting portrait on that OP coin @gregarious


Elagabalus, Denarius Rome mint, ca AD 218-219
IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right
MARS VICTOR, Mars advancing right
3.49 gr
Ref : Cohen # 109v, RCV # 7526, RIC # 123



Elagabalus, Tetradrachm Antioch mint
AUT K M A ANTWNEINOC CEB, laureate bust right, drapery on left shoulder, seen from front
DHMARC EX UPATOC TO B =twice consul =219 A.D., eagle standing facing, wings spread, head left, wreath in beak, star beneath, Delta and epsilon in field
14,11 gr
Ref : Prieur #251_012, Sear #3096

Q

 

Nice coin and I see nothing about it to make me think the cleaning process was anything but normal @gregarious.


ELAGABALUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG - Laureate, draped bust right
REVERSE: P M TR P IIII COS III P P - Sol standing left, raising hand and holding whip; star in either field
Struck at Rome, 221 AD
2.9g, 19mm
RIC 40b, C 184

ELAGABALUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate & draped bust right
REVERSE: LIBERTAS AVG, Libertas standing left, holding pileus & scepter, star in left or right field
Struck at Rome, 220-21 AD
2.35g, 19mm
RIC IV 107

ELAGABALUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: IMP CAES ANTONINVS AVG, radiate draped bust right
REVERSE: SALVS ANTONINI AVG, Salus standing right, feeding serpent from patera
Struck at Rome, 219 AD
3.28g, 18mm
RIC 137

 

True, but I fail to grasp how any emperor would approve of an official portrait of himself with a bull's dick sticking out of his head.

Plus, it would have to be a pretty tiny bull.