Obverse: Diademed and Draped Bust of the
Empress Facing Right
Reverse: Concordia, Seated to the Left, Holding a
Patera and Resting her Arm on a Small Statue of
Spes
In 100 A.D., Sabina married the future emperor
Hadrian at the age of twelve. The marriage,
however, does not seem to have been a
particularly happy one considering that Hadrian
was openly homosexual. Unfortunately, Sabina
did not seem to possess the ability to overlook
her husband's sexual practices, as most of the
imperial women found it expedient to do. She
played the part of the dutiful wife, though, even
accompanying Hadrian and his lover Antinous on
their tour of Egypt. Upon her death in 136 A.D.,
rumors began to spread that Hadrian had
poisoned her because she was resentful of his
homosexual relationships. However, these
accusations are senseless when one figures that
Hadrian was a frail old man at the time of her
passing (Hadrian himself would die the next
year). It is quite unlikely that he would murder
her at this late a date after thirty-six years of
marriage, however fulfilling they might have
been.
How many hands have touched a coin in your
pocket or purse? What eras and lands have the
coin traversed on its journey into our
possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull
out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of
who might have touched the coin before us, or
where the coin will venture to after it leaves our
hands. More than money, coins are a symbol of
the state that struck them, of a specific time and
location, whether contemporary currencies or
artifacts of a long forgotten empire. This
stunning hand-struck coin reveals an expertise
of craftsmanship and intricate sculptural detail
that is often lacking in contemporary machine-
made currencies. Hadrian the Emperor is famed
for the numerous construction projects
undertaken during his reign, many of which
survive today in ruins spanning across western
Europe. However, an artifact such as this coin
paints a different portrait of Hadrian as a human
and husband seen through the eyes of his
devoted wife. So alas the memory of Sabina will
live on in this intimate memorial passed from the
hands of civilization to civilization, from
generation to generation that appear as vibrant
today as the day they were struck.
- (C.339)
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