Hello All, A purchase from Gidbud & Naumann this Hadrian As, i cant find it in the RIC Book here you see a Column on the reverse. its close to RIC 669 Obv. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS Laureate, cuirassed bust right, seen from front Rev. COS III in field S-C Salus standing right "next to column", holding and feeding snake from patera in left. Maten. 10.19 gr 24x26 mm thank you in advance. all the best Eric
The addition of that column certainly complicates things, doesn't it? I have not found this type anywhere. It certainly would be RIC 669 without the column. Here's my theory, for what it's worth. The coin IS, in fact, RIC 669, and the column represents an engraver's error. Perhaps the initial rut to outline the figure of Salus was engraved too far to the right, and subsequently corrected. Or, perhaps the engraver began to carve the Salus-seated-left type, in which case the column would have been the back of her chair. Then he realized he was supposed to be making the Salus-standing-right type. At any rate, if anyone can find another example it would prove me wrong, but I don't think it's a column at all.
That's whats so cool about Ancients. No coin is ever the same, as apposed to U.S. coins where the vast majority of them are just duplicates. I like this coin alot.
Another possibility: a number of Hadrian reverse types feature various goddesses standing right, leaning on a column to the left, ie., Tranquilitas, Providentia, Fortuna, etc. Perhaps the engraver started to make one of those types, then changed his mind. Or maybe it is an unpublished, official type. Your guess is as good as mine.
Salus is holding the bowl for her snake & that is drapery hanging downward to her foot. I see her foot at the bottom of the drapery. Just food for thought. Compare it to the drapery falling from Salas' forearm on this coin: Edit to add: Of course, I sometimes see bunny rabbits & dinosaurs when I look at clouds.
Sweet!! => those are both fantastic coins, Oki & C89 ... yummy (jealous of that cool snake-reverse) You guys rock
Sorry to revive this zombie thread, but I've been thinking about this one since I found a coin with a column that was only attested in Strack. The British Museum only has one example of @Okidoki 's as with a COS III/Salus reverse and it's column-less. It's the same as RIC 669. If anyone has access to Strack or the non-standard (i.e. not RIC2 or BMCRE3) references, it may be worth looking there. Interestingly, when Salus is depicted with a column, she leans on it with the elbow NOT used in feeding the snake. Hadrian Sestertius, RIC 786, Muenz Zentrum Rheinland. Very interesting, OP coin, indeed.
