Featured Unlisted left bust denarius of Hadrian

This afternoon I received this beautiful denarius.


HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P
bare head left, draped
FORTVNAE REDVCI
Fortuna standing left with rudder on globe & cornucopiae, shaking hands with Hadrian

Hadrian 117-138
AR Denarius
Struck 134-138
3,32g/18mm
Ric 248 (not recorded with this left bust)

I was pretty excited that I could buy this coin from my Christmas money. In the first place because this is a beautiful piece with a beautiful portrait of Hadrian facing to the left. Also because the reverse political meaning is very interesting. The reverse shows Fortuna shaking Hadrian's hand. But the most special thing about this coin is that it is unpublished with this left-facing bust. So it's my first unpublished coin.

Left-facing busts of Hadrian on denarii are certainly not unique. They are even quite common. Remarkably, they are often unpublished. This may be due to their rarity, but it remains uncommon for RIC writers to rarely register them. In the case of the above-mentioned coin, it may have to do with the rarity. I could only find two other examples. The one example was sold by Incitatus coins on Vcoins. I found the other example on acsearch. I have not been able to consult the website of the British Museum because it is constantly having problems. At least no copy has been registered on wildwinds.

Regarding the political significance of this coin. The Fortuna clasping hands type is quite common with a right-facing bust and was minted in all metals. The type means that Hadrian and Fortuna are united. In other words, Hadrian and happiness / prosperity are one. Hadrian is therefore the bringer of happiness. A reverse that fits well into the Hadrian era when Rome experienced its most prosperous period.

Does one of you have an explanation for the fact that Hadrian's left busts are often not mentioned? I wonder if some of you can find more examples of this type in sources that I may not know.

Please show your unpublished coins or coins with left busts.

Thank you for reading.

 

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That's a handsome looking coin. Great that it's pretty rare. Maybe @Okidoki can shed more light on it.

 

Cool!

 

Thats a nice coin. I don't know an answer to your RIC question. But left headers are rarer indeed. I don't own a Hadrian coin with head to the left, i think. And what was the function of the different obverse busts. Why bare head left, or right, or laurate. What was the point? (Except very specifically for example to show the denomination of the coin, such as the radiate crown.)

 

Lovely coin. I'd be happy to have it.

 

Thank you for your response. You are indeed asking an interesting question. I also always wonder if, for example, the left busts for special occasions were struck and given to civilians, soldiers or imperial personnel, for example. Unfortunately we have no evidence for that.

 

I have idly speculated that left facing busts from the Roman mints may have been a form used by the celators to display their skill, or possibly as an apprentice piece to prove their 'graduation' from apprentice to full celator, or something similar. It's a nice story, even if it may have no relationship to the truth of the matter.

Maybe they were just a nod to history, when left facing types could be the norm.

 

Perhaps superstition ? In Roman augury, or fortune telling, birds that appeared on the left side were interpreted as being bad luck. Petronius, a friend of the emperor Nero, when he wrote Satyricon, talked about Trimalchio, who organized a party and had a slave only for the purpose of preventing his guests from entering the triclinium with the left foot first...

 

Here's a left-facing one from Hadrian's reign. Still awaiting its arrival in the mail.

 

Interesting theory. I don't know if it's right, but it could explain why left busts often have better portraits than right busts. Simply because more time was invested.
Until a diary of a mint worker is found it will remain guessing.

 

My favorite left Hadrian is this Romulus ROMVLO CONDITORI:


In my Severan specialty, left busts are all rare. This one with Fortuna as Pietas is unlisted in the places I have looked but that never means anything. Is it now 'listed' because it has been shown on Coin Talk?

The concept defining 'published' was once more clear cut when all information exchange involved ink on paper. Many people would define a coin as published if it had appeared in a scholarly journal not available to amateurs but not if the coin were widely known through electronic means but not yet in a book. Once a book had special status since it was hard to get a book in to print. Today it is simple to get an edition of one copy printed and 'Vanity Press' allows publishing of works without regard to their merit. Rules change.

 

That's an outstanding coin @Roman Collector. It was also made by a very talented mint worker. Hopefully the coin will arrive soon.

 

That is a neat left bust of Hadrian Doug. I love the Romulo type and didn't even know there was a left face variant. I agree that unpublished used in the past mean more than nowadays. On the other hand, it can say something about rarity if the authors of the books had no example at that time.

 

Neat coin. Congrats.

 

Great pick up, congrats.