Finest Known of this Iconic Stone of Emesa Issue

Triton XXI, Lot: 798. Estimate $30000. Sold for $37500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Elagabalus. AD 218-222. AR Denarius (19.5mm, 3.61 g, 12h). Antioch mint. Struck AD 219-220. IMP ANTO NINVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right / COS I II P P, eagle, wings spread and head left, standing half-right on thunderbolt before Stone of Emesa, holding wreath in beak; five stars above. RIC IV 176; Thirion 336; RSC 26; BMCRE p. 584, * = Arnold 252. Superb EF, toned. Extremely rare, and the finest of the handful known.

Ex Leu 28 (5 May 1981), lot 512 (hammer CHF 28,000).

At the age of fourteen, Varius Avitus Bassianus (Elagabalus) inherited the office of high priest of the sun-god Elagabalus at Emesa in Syria. The cult of his sun god was represented by a sacred stone, and in AD 219 when he moved from Emesa to Rome, he took the stone, probably a meteorite, with him. This coin type commemorates this event. During his reign, Elagabalus devoted his efforts to the promotion of his cult god, building a lavish temple to house the stone.