New Roman Silver - Hadrian

Aethelred

The following coin is a silver Denarius of Hadrian who was emperor of Rome from AD 117 until his death in AD 138. Hadrian was adopted as heir by the childless Trajan and was the middle of the five so-called "Good Emperors." Where Trajan had a policy of conquest and expansion, Hadrian assumed a defensive posture and constructed forts and walls. The most famous of these, Hadrian's Wall was built along the northern border of the province of Britannia where is can still be seen. During Hadrian's reign the remnant of Judaea rebelled against Rome and were defeated and dispersed across the empire and beyond. Hadrian has received far better press that he deserves by modern historians. He seemed to always be on edge and mistrustful of those around him, and these traits grew worse as he aged. Senators and court officials began to be executed without cause or due process and Rome was only spared a reign of terror like those under Nero and Domitian, by Hadrian's death at age 62.

This example is 17mm in diameter and has a weight of 3.5g, the reverse shows Salus feeding a serpent, which I have to admit is one of my favorite reverse types in spite of my fear of snakes. Sear lists the more common variety of this coin which shows the Emperor bare headed as SR-3540, this specimen, with teh scarcer laurel bust is listed as RIC II 267a

harasha

From the Hebrew midrash: "Great king," said one of the courtiers, who happened to be present, "your conduct appears to me very strange. One person you doom to death for saluting you, and the other for not saluting you!" "Hold thy peace," said the tyrant; "Hadrian doth not want to be taught how to distress his enemies."

Aethelred

Interesting quote that I had never read before, thank you for posting it.

lordmarcovan

Nice coin, neat reverse.



Hadrian does look a tad bloated there, however, as if he had one too many chili cheese dawgs from that vendor's cart down by the Forum.





The variance between portraits of the same emperor can be interesting.



He looks a bit leaner on this denarius I bought from you back in 2007 (which is still in another forum member's hands- Swampboy, if I remember correctly.)









Here is another Hadrian denarius I had from bronzemat more recently.









Here is my current Hadrian from the Box of 20, this time from Smeagle, which still has yet to be entombed in TPG plastic. I'm wondering if NGC will put the Boston Museum of Fine Arts pedigree on the label. The Goldberg's paperwork showing that was lost two sales ago, but the provenance is still listed on ACSearch. I figured I could print that page to send to them when I submit it.

lordmarcovan

Originally posted by: lordmarcovan



The variance between portraits of the same emperor can be interesting.

On that note, look at the difference between these two Vespasian denarii.



The first, from my old 2007-08 Roman collection, is a pretty early Vespasian portrait, I believe, perhaps even engraved before he arrived in Rome at the culmination of the 69 AD civil war. So it might have represented some guesswork on the part of the celator.









The second, from my current Box of 20, is of course a posthumous Vespasian issue struck by Titus.









(And to segue into the capricorn design, at risk of straying a bit far afield of the Hadrian OP topic)



Was Titus or Vespasian a Capricorn, astrologically speaking? I'll have to check. This is the second Titus I've had featuring capricorns (which happen to be my astrological sign). Here is the Titus from my old collection.

Aethelred

In the first one Vespasian looks almost happy.

lordmarcovan

Originally posted by: Aethelred

In the first one Vespasian looks almost happy.

Does, doesn't he.



Well, he'd just won the civil war but hadn't gotten embroiled in Rome's city politics yet, perhaps. Still had a tranquil outlook.

asheland

Awesome thread!

Swampboy

Yes LM that Hadrian denarius is in my collection.

It's not as wholesome as other pieces in this thread but i like the noble portrait and the toning.

lordmarcovan

Looks better in your pix than in mine. (Actually "mine" in this case would be Aethelred's, since I would've swiped his photos.)

lordmarcovan

BTW, i do find the Salus reverses interesting.



I had a Crispina sestertius with a Salus reverse in my old collection, and it was one of my favorites.



I paid $106 for this eight years ago. Wish I still had it. If offered to me again at such a price, I'd buy it in an eyeblink.











Edit: no, Autocorrect- I really meant to type SALUS, not "Sales", so stop fighting me over it. Geez.

Aethelred

Originally posted by: lordmarcovan
Looks better in your pix than in mine. (Actually "mine" in this case would be Aethelred's, since I would've swiped his photos.)

I took that photo many years and several cameras ago. Surprised it still exists, who knew?

lordmarcovan

Originally posted by: Aethelred

Originally posted by: lordmarcovan

Looks better in your pix than in mine. (Actually "mine" in this case would be Aethelred's, since I would've swiped his photos.)

I took that photo many years and several cameras ago. Surprised it still exists, who knew?

Frozen in time circa 2007, when I started my first Roman collection.

Aethelred

Frozen in time circa 2007, when I started my first Roman collection.

Do you have pics of the whole set?