Æ20 - Elagabalus S C, Δ Ε

Elagabalus came to power through one of the more elaborate frauds in Roman succession history — his grandmother Julia Maesa deliberately propagated the claim that he was the illegitimate son of Caracalla, a lie the legions of Syria were willing to believe. He was fourteen when proclaimed emperor, and the Syrian mint at Antioch was among the first to strike bronze for him, producing civic issues before the Rome mint had fully committed to his portraiture.

The delta-epsilon (Δ Ε) control marks on Antiochene bronzes of this period indicate a sequential die-control system used by the mint, not a denomination marker.