Arrived this morning Elagabalus, Billon Tetradrachm of Alexandria, Egypt. Dated year 4, AD 220-221. 23mm, 11.63gr. A KAICAΡ MA AYΡ ANTωNINOC EYCEB, laureate head right. / L-Δ, draped bust of Serapis right, wearing modius decorated with a poppy. Milne 2811-2812; Köln 2334; Dattari 4139; Emmett 2952.4. Geissen 2313, RPC 10032.
Great example. Elagabalus (218 - 222 A.D.) Egypt, Alexandria Billon Tetradrachm O: A KAICAP MA AVP ANTWNINOC EVCEB, Laureate bust right. R: Eagle standing facing, head right, with wings spread, holding wreath in beak; LΔ (date) to left.. Dated RY 4 (220/221 A.D.) 22mm 13.59g Köln 2326; Dattari 4153; Milne 2819 = Emmett 2921.4 Published on Wildwinds!
Nice Elagabalus Tetradrachms! (The OP coin & @Mat 's.) Alexandrian coins are some of my favorites. I've shown several of my "Elagabaloi" from other Provincial mints on other posts (e.g., Nikopolis Captives, Laodicea Tychaion, Antioch Tetradrachm, and maybe some others).... But I don't seem to have any from Alexandria (yet). However, I do have this Sarapis from Alexandria, an Antoninus Pius Tetradrachm: Ex Giovanni Dattari (1853-1923) Collection; Robert L. Grover (1910-1998) Collection; Art Institute of Chicago (reference / accession number 1981.460), with tag; Gemini XIII (Harlan J. Berk, cat. by Curtis Clay; 6 Apr 2017), Lot 460 (part of, not illustrated); Dattari-Savio (2007) Supplement, Pl. 14, No. 17 (this coin illustrated) = RPC Online IV.4 1658 (this coin cited in refs.). Below is a somewhat different depiction of Sarapis (my newest) on a Drachm from Caria, Myndos, 2nd cent. BCE. Ex Sammlung Laurent Bricault (1963-), 4030; Sammlung Erich Karl (1924-2009), 266; this coin = SNRIS Myndus 02 (a6) = HNO 2653.1 = (probably) Gorny 81 (3 Mar 1997), 342, cited in Meadows & Zabel (Coin Hoards IX, 522: pp. 248 n. 7 & 251). He's sometimes described as Zeus, but given that he's wearing the atef / hemhem crown (and the headdress of Isis decorates the reverse), it must be Sarapis. During the Roman period, the preferred design showed Sarapis wearing a kalathos (the basket on his head on the Alexandrian coins above).
