ELAGABALUS & JULIA MAESA AE Pentassarion Marcianopolis Tyche Ancient Roman Coin

Item Description

An attractive, large Roman Provincial bronze Pentassarion featuring the confronting portraits of the notorious teenage Emperor Elagabalus and his powerful grandmother, Julia Maesa. Struck in Moesia Inferior at the strategic mint of Marcianopolis (modern-day Devnya, Bulgaria), this fascinating piece showcases the dynastic imagery used by the Severan women to legitimize Elagabalus's brief and chaotic rule.

Design Breakdown

• Obverse: Confronting facing busts. On the left, a laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus facing right. On the right, a diademed and draped bust of Julia Maesa facing left.

  • Obverse Legend: ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΥΡ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟC ΑΥΓ ΙΟΥΛΙΑ ΜΑΙCΑ ΑΥΓ

• Reverse: Tyche (Fortuna) standing facing, head turned left, holding a rudder resting on the ground in her right hand and a cornucopia in her left arm. In the left field, the large Greek letter Ε serves as the explicit value mark for 5 Assaria.

  • Reverse Legend: ΥΠ ΙΟΥΛ ΑΝΤ CΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ (Naming consular legate Julius Antonius Seleucus).

Condition & Preservation

• Patina & Surfaces: Features a beautiful, highly stable dark olive-green fields with hard, light-green mineralized malachite deposits in the recesses. The two-tone patina is completely sound, offering excellent contrast that makes the portraits and reverse devices pop.

• Detail: Bold, instantly recognizable portrait silhouettes. Excellent legibility on the reverse mint name, Tyche's attributes, and the critical Ε denomination mark.

• Ex Locke & England auction