91, Lot: 175. Estimate $750. Sold for $575. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ELAGABALUS. 218-222 AD. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.07 gm). Antioch mint. Struck circa 218-219 AD. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Quadriga prancing right, bearing the sacred conical stone of Elagabal, surmounted by an eagle, and surrounded by four parasols. RIC IV 195; RSC 268. Good VF. Rare.

Self-proclaimed high priest of the Emesan Sun Cult, Elagabalus brought to Rome from his home town of Emesa a sacred, conical black stone, thought by some to have been a meterorite. Together the stone and eagle indicate its divinity. The reverse legend is translated "To the holy god, the sun Elagabalus." This reverse type is certainly among the more famous and historically important of Elabagalus.