Hadrian was the third of the Five Good Emperors, reigning during the peak of Roman prosperity. His ascension to the throne was met with some controversy as his predecessor Trajan had not yet chosen a successor until he was on his deathbed. Trajan’s wife Plotina sent a letter to the Senate declaring Hadrian as the new heir, and only after the appointment was confirmed did she inform the Senate that Trajan had in fact already died, leading some to believe that Plotina took it upon herself to make Hadrian emperor. Regardless of the manner in which he came to power, Hadrian had a very successful reign. He completed several famous building projects, rebuilding the Pantheon in Rome and constructing the Vallum Aelium (Hadrian’s Wall), which marked the northern border of Roman Britain. Hadrian was known as a military expert, but his reign saw minimal conflict. He engendered trust with his troops by spending a considerable amount of time with them, wearing military attire and dining with his soldiers. He increased the vigilance of their training and improved the strength of Rome’s forces by personally working with the legions in the field. He accomplished this through extensive travel, visiting nearly every province of the Empire while trusted members of his staff maintained Rome in his absence. He would inspect the troops and suggest corrections, as well as allocate funds for construction projects and improved infrastructure within each of the provinces. As his health started to decline, Hadrian selected Lucius Aelius Caesar to succeed him. However, shortly before his ascension, Aelius died suddenly from what is believed to have been a brain hemorrhage. In his stead, Hadrian appointed Antoninus Pius with the provision that he would then choose Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as his successors. Pius agreed, and the Golden Age of Rome continued. Hadrian’s portrait on coins pays homage to his love of Greek art, shown with a noble profile in an idealized and attractive style. This coin depicts Hadrian wearing a full beard, a first for a Roman emperor. Hadrian was a follower of Stoic philosophy, and he adopted the Hellenistic fashion of philosophers and intellectuals by wearing a well-kept beard. However, some conflicting accounts say it was primarily intended to hide the unsightly facial scars Hadrian received in battle. He was consistent in his bearded depiction on coins, departing from the precedent set by the Senate that Romans had to be shown clean-shaven. Much of the Roman upper class followed his fashion and wore beards up until the Severan dynasty at the beginning of the third century AD. Hadrian focused on securing Rome’s borders rather than expanding the Empire, but he wanted to remind the public that he was equally capable at offensive strategies. Therefore, the reverse of this aureus was chosen to show the emperor as a successful military commander, conveying his strength by depicting him with a flying cape on horseback and hurling a lance. This coin retains an interesting attribute of the engraving process which is rarely seen. The circle surrounding the emperor on the reverse is a “guide line”, used to properly align the inscription punches. Its presence indicates a very early die state, making this one of the first coins struck with unworn dies. It is therefore fitting that it was featured as the representative example of the type in the Calico reference guide. HADRIAN. 117-138 AD. AV Aureus (7.19 g, 6h). Struck 124-128 AD. Laureate head right, slight drapery at shoulder / Hadrian on horseback right, holding lance. RIC II 187e; UCR 350. C414. Calico 1226 (this coin) Struck on a broad flan. Lustrous and Bold EF. Ex. Aloysius Lynn Collection, Ex. Freeman & Sear MBS 7, Feb 2002, lot 470. Post your coins of Hadrian!
Dear Joe, fantastic aureus, congratulations. I also like very much the way you are illustrating the coin. Unfortunately, I am lacking Hadrian... Greetings, Marc
Simply fantastic! I bet @Okidoki will be moved to tears by this one The polished devices against a subtly matte field really enhance the beauty. I guess the US Mint realizes this too since their reverse proof issues are very popular and seem to bring a premium. I have a handful of Hadrians Here are a couple of my favorites. Travel series denarius, Africa: Drachm from Alexandria
Holy-holy-holy-moly!! .... I'm totally jealous!! => where do you keep finding the cash to score these nasty ol' winners!!? (yup, that's another out-standing example!!) ... Wow, TIF is absolutely correct => Okidoki might as well pack-up his kit and move-on to another site (*sigh*) .......... ... just jokes, Oki (you are still the people's King o' the Hadrian coins, my friend!!) Nice Hadrian additions, TIF (I always loved that Alexandrian of yours ... nice elephant hat!) I have a couple of sub-AJ-esque Hadrians to toss-into this amazing AJ classic thread ... ummm, but they are still champs in my stable!! Hadrian AR Tetradrachm Hadrian AE Dupondius Hadrian, Alexandrian AE Obol
Excellent! Yet another coin you can spend a goodly amount of time looking at to appreciate the artwork and details that are on it. Nice ones from TIF and Steve too, as usual. I'll toss in my cameo-shaped Africa denarius : I'd love to read a decent biography of Hadrian, who seems to be one of the more interesting emperors. The only one I've read (by Anthony Everitt) was surprisingly dull, even though I liked the same author's Augustus biography. Anyone have recommendations?
... okay sure, I know that Hadrian was "AD", but the joke was still fairly solid ... but the joke is actually on me, for this book is now going for $135 (and I used to collect BC books, but I gave 'em all to the next-door-neighbor-kids that I used to baby-sit during my early teens ... man, I bet those kids are smilin' and counting the cash that they made off of me, eh?) ... oh well, good times and cool kids (I hope that they kept my old books and old hockey cards!!)
Great write-up Ancient Joe and great coins everyone. Anyone interested in Hadrian, Hadrian's Wall, and the Roman empire during his reign should consider signing up for the free course on Hadrian's Wall. Although we just began our second week, it's very informal and would be easy to catch up. It's also educational and it's free. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/good-and-free-course-about-hadrians-wall.252429/ Danziger and Purcell's fine book, "Hadrian's Empire: When Rome Ruled the World" is more about the Roman world at the time of Hadrian's rule than it is about Hadrian himself. That said, it is a good book. guy
Beautiful coin AJ. You just keep 'em coming, don't ya? I'm just totally jealous. HADRIAN Billon Tetradrachm OBVERSE: AΥT KAI TΡAIAN AΔΡIANOC CEB, laureate head left REVERSE: L EN-NEAKΔ (year 19), naked bust of Nilus right, wearing taenia, lotus on head, cornucopia on shoulder Struck at Alexandria, Egypt, 134/5AD 8.95g. 24.6mm Dattari 1430, Geissen 1147, Curtis 452,SNG Cop 393, BMC Alexandria 645 var (aegis) HADRIAN AE Sestertius OBVERSE: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS P P, laureate bust right, draped far shoulder REVERSE: HILARITAS P R S-C, COS III in ex, Hilaritas standing facing holding palm & cornucopia, two small children flanking her Struck at Rome, 128-134AD 25.30g, 35mm RIC 970 HADRIAN AR Denarius OBVERSE: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, Laureate head right REVERSE: AFRICA, Africa reclining left holding scorpion & cornucopiae, basket of grain at feet Struck at Rome, 136 AD 2.76g. 18.5mm RIC 299/RSC 138
another drop dead gorgeous coin from AJ. i give that coin 11 beavers on a 10 beaver scale. that "guide line" is interesting as well, i haven't seen that...or if i had i didn't recognize what it was. here's my only hadrian.. i'll give it 3 beavers..
Yea TIF, that was left over from when my photos were too dark. I have a bit of a new set up. I thought it looked a tad dark on my screen, I should have known it would be black on everyone else's screens. Yikes. Fixed!
What an awesome aureus. Also a very Heroic bust style. I'm having a lot of difficulty in getting anything high quality these days. While I've lost all my high end bids on both ancients and Latin American this year (hence the disappointed box under my avatar), just yesterday I did pick up a cheap lower grade Hadrian. It goes to show that weird & interesting coins are not necessarily expensive. It's an Egyptian (Roman Colonial) drachm struck in Alexandria, year 18 (133/134 AD), 25.04 g, 32mm. It shows Roman control of Egypt with the Emperor, yet also that the Romans allowed this Province the freedom to use their own, very characteristic designs on the reverse. I paid L. 160 for it (not incl commission) yesterday.
You're lucky I lifted my finger from the bid button on that lot . I changed my mind at the last minute. I had targeted 18 other Alexandrians and failed on all of those bids. Some were too high by opening; others which I'd prebid on failed and with others I was outbid during the live session. Out of 40 lots on my Roma watch list, I ended up bidding on only 8 or 9 and won only one. It's pretty special although not high-end. A dozen other bidders wanted it too.