Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Æ23 - Elagabalus ΕΦΕϹΙΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΩΝ ΑϹΙΑϹ
| Issuer | Ephesus (Conventus of Ephesus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 218-222 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 5.58 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Emperor Elagabalus facing right, depicted from the rear in the characteristic three-quarter back view typical of Eastern provincial issues. The effigy displays the emperor's youthful features with curled hair beneath a laurel wreath. The circular Greek legend surrounds the bust in the field, reading ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΥΡ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟϹ, identifying the emperor by his imperial titles and name. The coin exhibits the slightly irregular flan and bold, provincial style of striking characteristic of Ephesian civic bronze coinage of the Severan period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΥΡ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟϹ (Translation: Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Ephesus held the title prōtē Asias — "first of Asia" — through a combination of imperial favor and aggressive civic lobbying, a status it defended jealously against rival Smyrna and Pergamon throughout the second and third centuries. The inscription broadcasting that primacy on this coin was not ceremonial modesty; it was a standing argument in an ongoing inter-city competition for Roman recognition, temple-warden titles, and the right to host imperial cult ceremonies.
Elagabalus's short reign generated a substantial provincial bronze output, partly because the new emperor's Syrian origins and religious controversies created pressure on eastern cities to demonstrate loyalty through coinage activity.