Picked this up today. Years ago I had a sublime dupondius with Pegasus (foolishly sold), but when I saw this I knew I had to have it within reason. It's the nicest I have ever noticed (though I am sure there are better examples out there). They come up for sale so infrequently I really needed it for my collection. I thought it sold for a song, too. I would have paid double: Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ As (23.5mm, 6.90 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck circa AD 124-128. Laureate and draped bust right / Griffin springing right. RIC II 681. Brown patina, numerous scratches, traces of earthen deposits. VF.
I was worried about that. It could have gotten expensive if you needed one. I will certainly enjoy this one for years to come.
This keeps coming up in my life, too. I buy coins for which I would have paid double and I walk away from coins I would not buy for half the price even though they are something I might collect. This is most certainly a super coin worth every bit of what you had to pay which I assume was a great deal more than I would have but that is why you have more super coins than I can imagine. Your coin sent me to BMCRE to see what else they had in this vein. I did not find it in the plates but there was another Griffin pose in the orichalcum as section BMCRE 1353 which was new to me (no surprise here since I am not a Hadrian specialist). The one I want to see is the Sicilia Medusa BMCRE 1779. The BM lists an 'as or dupondius' with a number and a sestertius with a symbol referring to a questionable Cohen listing. That one I would like to see but assume I never will. EDIT: I was wrong: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4875722 I could get interested in Hadrian but don't have the cash to compete with you two for the nice ones. I wonder if the Griffin comes in VG.
Splendid ! I noticed RPC give this detail :« Orichalcum coinage struck at Rome for circulation in Syria; Asses ». Can someone explain me why is that ? https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/3759
Exactly why this was so I am not sure. While many references note it, they dont explain exactly why Rome needed to issue separate coinage in Latin for use in the provinces (if I missed it in McAlee, let me know I would like to read up on it). I can only assume that the local mints were unable to produce the numbers needed and Rome provided the supplement (and that is a whole new discussion). RPC and RIC dont mention this series, but McAlee suggests that the griffin types were intended for use in Asia Minor where the griffin was a known type. Why it would have been diverted to Syria is anyones guess. I also read somewhere that the types have been found in the west, so they may have been used in limited fashion domestically. I checked a number of archives and could only find 8 Hadrian griffins of various types (one sold by Leu erroneously as pegasus). The issue is extremely rare, so I dont see where there will be too many more coming up for sale, but I am sure they are out there. Never ceases to amaze me what one can find at a local coin show.
What a lovely coin, @Ken Dorney ! An interesting "brass as," too! There are three reverse types of this denomination bearing a griffin -- (1) Cohen 433 (yours), with a griffin running right, (2) Cohen 434, with a griffin running left, and (3) Cohen 435, with a griffin seated left with forepaw raised. The British Museum has only one of these, Cohen 435 (BMCRE3 1353). Here is their specimen: Mattingly, in the introduction to BMCRE3,* notes: A small group of Asses and Semisses, struck in orichalcum, not copper, and quadrantes (?), with a slightly unusual, if fine style, should without much doubt be assigned to an Eastern mint. The type of the city 'Tyche', holding corn-ears, with a river-god swimming below, seems to be a rendering of the famous type of Antioch, which may well be the mint of the coins. Other types are Roma Victrix, loyally honoured abroad, and the Pegasus and lyre, both types of Apollo, who enjoyed a special worship at Antioch. He doesn't cite references or explain beyond this, but it seems his rationale for attributing all of these orichalcum versions of what would be copper coins if struck at the mint at Rome was to assign them to the Antioch mint on the basis of the iconography of some of the issues. A well-known example of such iconography is this tiny bronze issued under Maximinus II: Anonymous issue under Maximinus II. Roman billon quarter follis, 1.35 g, 16.3 mm, 11 h. Antioch, officina 6, AD 311-312. Obv: GENIO ANTIOCHENI, Tyche of Antioch seated facing; river god Orontes swimming below. Rev: APOLLONI SANCTO, Apollo standing left holding patera and lyre; S in right field, SMA in ex. Refs: RCV 14927; Vagi 2954; Van Heesch 3(a); McAlee 170f. They could therefore be seen as the Hadrianic equivalent to these orichalcum Asses and Semisses of Trajan similarly issued for use in the east and which may have been minted in Antioch as well: Trajan. A.D. 98-117. Roman orichalcum as, 8.49 g, 23.5 mm, 6 h. Struck in Rome for circulation in Syria (?); Struck in Antioch (?), AD 115/16. Obv: IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GERM, radiate and draped bust right; c/m: bucranium within incuse punch. Rev: DAC PARTHICO P M TR POT XX COS VI P P around laurel wreath enclosing large SC. Refs: RIC 647; BMCRE 1094; Cohen 123; RCV 3243; Woytek 937v; McAlee 509; Strack 479; BN 953-5. For c/m: Pangerl 63; Howgego 294. ~~~ *Mattingly, Harold. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum. Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian, British Museum, 1966, pp. clxviii.
Great new and amazing coin, Ken! I'd heard about the lyre, but not the Pegasus... Here's my written radiate-headed Hadrian dupondius with Pegasus: Hadrian, AE Dupondius Struck 125-128 AD, Rome mint(?) Obverse: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, Bust of Hadrian, radiate, draped on left shoulder, right. Reverse: COS, Pegasus running right, SC/III in exergue. References: RIC II 658j Size: 28mm, 13.0g And my smaller Hadrian lyre: Hadrian, Ruled 117-138 AD Orichalcum As, Struck 125-128 AD Minted in Rome for circulation in Syria Obverse: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, bust of Hadrian, laureate, draped, right. Reverse: COS III, Lyre, S-C across field. References: Butcher 25, RIC II 684 Size: 23mm, 7.07g
I think its generally now accepted that they were minted in Rome, so BMC would be out of date on this issue. Its easy to see why he thought they were minted in Antioch. Have a look at this As below with Tyche (I no longer have the coin):
