3rd century AD. A silver finger ring with flat elliptical bezel, incised facing bust of Sol Invictus with radiating lines surrounding the head. Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 269, for type.2.47 grams, 19.11mm overall, 16.17mm internal diameter (approximate size British K, USA 5 1/4, Europe 9.95, Japan 9) (3/4"). From a Dutch private collection; formerly in a European collection, acquired before 1980. The cult of the Sol Invictus, diffused among the army and especially among the worshippers of Mithra, was elevated at the rank of State Religion by the Emperor Aurelian, at the end of the Military Anarchy. Emperors portrayed Sol Invictus on their official coinage, with a wide range of legends, only a few of which incorporated the epithet invictus (unconquered), such as the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI, claiming the Unconquered Sun as a companion to the Emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine I (AD 305-337"). The radiate head of the god was often depicted on artworks (reliefs, mosaics) and objects of material culture, such as this ring. [No Reserve]