AR24 - Elagabalus L Δ

Elagabalus became emperor at fourteen, installed by the Syrian legions who claimed — probably falsely — that he was the illegitimate son of Caracalla. His reign lasted less than four years before the Praetorian Guard murdered him and his mother in a latrine. The Alexandrian mint continued issuing tetradrachms throughout, and the regnal year L Δ (year four) places this piece in his penultimate year of rule, when his religious provocations in Rome were reaching their peak.

Alexandrian billon tetradrachms of this period show measurable silver debasement relative to earlier Antonine issues.