Æ24 - Elagabalus L Δ

This piece dates to regnal year four of Elagabalus, struck at the Alexandria mint during one of the more administratively chaotic reigns of the third century. The emperor was fourteen when he took power and spent much of his brief rule in Rome embroiled in religious controversy — his insistence on elevating the Syrian sun-cult of Elagabal above Jupiter alienated the Roman senatorial class fatally. Provincial mints like Alexandria continued their annual dating sequences regardless, producing bronze coinage for local circulation largely indifferent to the theological storms at the center.