Hadrian IVSTITIA Denarius with a Monster Aegis and Justitia in General

Just got this one last week and found it was interesting to attribute. Hadrian has what is for me the biggest Aegis around - looks like those snakes are going to reach up and nest in his beard! Or the chest pop-out scene in Alien?

RIC apparently does not list this type (RIC 42) with an aegis, although I found several examples online, so it appears to be a fairly common variation.

Somewhat obsessed with AE, I haven't gotten a denarius in a while. Fickle as ever, I find myself pivoting towards silver again.



Hadrian Denarius
(118 A.D.)
Rome Mint
IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, Laureate bust right, aegis on left shoulder with visible snakes / Justitia enthroned left, holding patera and sceptre. PM TR P COS II, IVSTITIA in exergue.
RIC 42 (var. see note).
(3.26 grams / 19 x 17 mm)

Attribution Note:

"RIC II gives bust options of drapery on left shoulder; draped; cuirassed; or draped and cuirassed. No mention is made of the aegis." FORVM

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/coins/hadrian_015.html


*****

This denarius sent me down the Roman Gods rabbit hole. On coins, I found Justitia is not a common goddess "standing or sitting around" (as Doug puts it). Too much like Aequitas?

I did an OCRE search for diety Justitia and got 91 hits - starting with Tiberius; most of them by far were issued by Hadrian, with the Severans issuing a few, and a lonesome last appearance by Carausius.
http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=deity_facet:"Justitia"

Aequitas gets 456 OCRE hits - starts with Galba ends with Constantine I/II - and a late example by Dryantilla! Does anybody have that one? (Apparently only the British Museum does).
http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=deity_facet:"Aequitas"

Roman Collector has a nice post about Aequitas where he describes the differences between Aequitas and Justitia:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/aeqvitas.356022/#post-4203214

A while back I got this sestertius of Severus Alexander, my only other coin with Justitia:



Severus Alexander Æ Sestertius
(222-231 A.D.)
Rome Mint
IMP SEV ALEXANDER AVG, laureate head right, slight drapery on left shoulder / IVSTITIA AVGVSTI, Justitia draped, seated left with patera and sceptre, SC in exergue.
RIC 563b; Cohen 106.
(15.81 grams / 26 mm)

Share your Justitias, or your aegis, or new stuff that tickled your fancy.

 

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Your Hadrian: no. 117 in R. Abdy's new RIC II.3. For the aegis on shoulder he cites a hoard in Valencia, illustrated pl. 4, the second coin labeled 117.

 

Thanks for the info Curtis. I appreciate it. I'll update my attribution accordingly.