Ancient Roman Empire: orichalcum sestertius of Hadrian, 134-138 AD, ex-Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Ancient Roman Empire: orichalcum sestertius of Hadrian, 134-138 AD, ex-Boston Museum of Fine Arts



Obverse: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate bust of Hadrian right, slight drapery on far shoulder.
Reverse: AE-QVI[TAS] [AV]G, S C across field, Aequitas standing facing, head left, holding scales and scepter.

Struck at Rome ca. 134-138 AD. RIC 743; BMC 1481. 31 mm approx, 23.4 g. Ex-Colosseo collection, 6/6/2015. Prior provenance to Boston Museum of Fine Arts, cited in Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles Auction 81, Lot 1567, September 2014.

The Roman emperor Hadrian, who reigned from 117 to 138 AD, is mostly known in the English speaking world for the construction of Hadrian's Wall in England, but also for construction in Rome and for his love of Greek culture. His reign coincided with a "golden age" of Rome and he was named one of the "Five Good Emperors" by Machiavelli in 1502.

Miscellaneous links:
Larger picture
Wildwinds page (for RIC 743/BMC 1481)
ACSearch.info page (for this coin; Goldberg provenance mentioning prior museum pedigree)
The Colosseo Collection (from which this piece was acquired)
Prior discussion of this coin (Collectors Universe, 10/2015)

Wikipedia links:
Hadrian
Sestertius
Hadrian's Wall
The Five Good Emperors
Orichalcum
Aequitas

When posted here, this coin was part of my "Eclectic Box of 20" collection.

 

I'll be rolling out quite a few things until I get my Box of 20 transitioned from CU over to here. Then I can link all these new threads up to my master index thread over here and leave Collectors Universe in the rearview mirror. (I'll still go visit and post there occasionally, but for complex posts with multiple images and links and such, it works better here. I'll keep it simpler over there from now on.)

 

It is indeed. I have enjoyed it raw for many months. It is destined for a plastic slab eventually, to be consistent with my Box of 20, but in the meantime, I can enjoy it the good old fashioned way.