Denarius - Elagabalus INVICTVS SACERDOS AVG Barbarous imitation

Barbarous imitations of Elagabalus denarii circulated widely in the western provinces during and after his reign, produced by unofficial mints responding to chronic shortages of small silver coinage. This example is struck in bronze rather than silver — not a debasement of a genuine issue, but a local substitution that tells you the imitating community needed the denomination more than it needed the metal. The RSC 61 type was among the more frequently copied, likely because it circulated in quantity and provided a ready model.