319, Lot: 490. Estimate $200. Sold for $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Elagabalus. AD 218-222. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.40 g, 7h). Antioch mint. Struck AD 218-219. ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / GENIO SENATVS, Genius of the Senate standing left, togate, holding branch and volumen. RIC IV 234 (Caracalla); Thirion –; RSC 90c (Caracalla); Michael Kelly Collection, Spink 123 (18 November 1997), lot 1361 (realized £220). VF, toned, some porosity. Very rare.

Cohen, RIC, and RSC list this coin for Caracalla, although the latter notes that it is “doubtful, or possibly a coin of Elagabalus.” The portrait is certainly that of Elagabalus, and the same type appears in the Michael Kelly collection (Spink, 1997) where it realized a healthy £220.