TELLVS STABIL - The Earth Firmly Established

A coin type unique to Hadrian is one bearing the legend TELLVS STABIL, showing the original Roman guardian goddess of the earth standing with a plough and rake next to two grain ears. It's an interesting depiction of one of the less often seen deities, and I've been wanting to add one to my collection for awhile.

Even though the coin I'm showing today is a TELLVS STABIL, it's not the coin I was looking for, but in fact a much rarer type that I wasn't even aware of, showing the goddess in a reclining pose, resting an elbow on a basket of fruit and placing a hand on a large globe. It's not in wonderful condition, but of course I had to have it. So, while I now have the rarer type, I continue my search for the more common one. Don't you love it when one coin on your want list becomes two?

Share your coins showing Tellus or any of the scarcer deities!



HADRIAN
AR Denarius
2.98g, 18.1mm
Rome mint, AD 134-138
RIC II 277d; BMCRE 748 var. (bust type)
O: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate head right.
R: TELLVS, Tellus reclining left, resting right hand on globe, elbow resting on basket of fruit; STABIL in exergue.

 

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What a nice surprise! Congratulations

 

Yup! I love springing these nice surprises on my coin budget .

 

@Okidoki is going to be very sad though .

 

Fantastic denarius 'Z'----and MANY coins on my 'want list' seem to be constantly multiplying---they're worse than rabbits LOL

I'll check a bit later for a scarce deity---but I think mine are all the more common and mundane type......Did I just hear thunder???

 

Great find, never seen that reverse before. I have seen the other though and almost added it as my first Hadrian but settled with another I like better.

Here is a recent one with a rare god.


Antoninus Pius, (138 - 161 A.D)
AR Denarius
O: ANTONINVS AVG PI - VS PP TR P COS III, laureate head right.
R: OPI AVG; Ops seated left, holding scepter and resting her head on right hand.
Rome Mint, 140-143 A.D.
3.43g
18mm
RIC III 77

 

That's a great coin, Mat. Interestingly, Ops was also an earth goddess. The Romans were not in short supply of them - Ceres, Ops, Tellus...

 

Sweet new addition, Z-Bro ... pretty sure I don't have Tellus hanging around, but I'll take a peek ...

Oh, and yes => it is sinister how quickly the wish-list grows once you turn-over a couple of innocent looking rocks, eh?

 

Well, he can't have ALL the Hadrians to himself, can he?

J/k... as far as I'm concerned, Oki must have one of the most incredible Hadrian collections in existence. And it can only get better!

 

Yup, you don't have to Tell-us that.
Sorry for the corn .

 

Great coin, Z! So I'm assuming STABIL is short for STABILIS, or an ancient form, and TELLVS STABIL is something along the line of Terra Firma?

 

It's always fascinating to me to consider the fact that the Romans intuited the earth as a globe, without actually having traveled its entirety. When one sees typical emperor-holding-globe types, there's always a question as to what the globe is. But when you see the EARTH mother goddess reclining with a big globe, there can be no doubt.

Or maybe it's her beach ball.

 

According to this entry from the Dictionary of Roman Coins, the full form is TELLVS STABILITA, and I included the translation "the earth firmly established" in the subject. It seems to suggest that as part of his superhuman accomplishments, Hadrian also rendered the entire world politically, geophysically and agriculturally whole and stable .

 

sniff sniff missed it haha, congrads my coinfriend, not often seen, not to my eyes in 2 years.
i have not seen in on sale

 

Ah, so - you expect me to read the titles of your threads then. I see how it is.

 

Hmmm? ... or maybe the Earth mother goddess is merely sitting contently while holding the moon or sun? (kinda like her version of admiring Pokemon cards?)

 

its 134-138 AD .

 

I'm going with beach ball. That looks like a beach chair to me.

 

Hmmm ... you might have me there, my friend

 

I've also read that the globe here may represent the cycle of seasons. That may have come from how the scene was depicted on later coins, where we see figures or children representing the Four Seasons traipsing on the globe. An example is this incredible medallion of Commodus, sadly not mine:

Or yes, it could just be her beach ball .