Obverse: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS; Bust of the
Emperor Crowned in a Laurel Wreath
Reverse: COS III; Victory, Standing to the Right,
Holding a Large Palm Frond and Lifting her
Drapery
Hadrian spent much of his reign traveling about
the Roman Empire and checking into the well -
being of the cities, towns, provinces, and
ordinary citizens over whom he ruled. He was
always interested in civic improvements, and
would often have a new bridge, road, aqueduct,
or temple built when he thought that the local
citizens would benefit by such new construction.
The reign of Hadrian at the height of the PAX
ROMANA period was a time of great peace and
prosperity in the Roman Empire. He continued
the public works building projects that his
adoptive father Trajan began and strengthened
the defenses on the borders of the empire.
Because of attacks on Roman citizens living in
southern Britain, he built Hadrian's Wall across a
narrow part of the island. Hadrian was an
educated emperor and a patron of the arts. He
spent most of his reign visiting the different
provinces of the empire and personally
overseeing the improvements and public works
carried out under his orders. Like Trajan and
Nerva before him, he adopted a grown man in
order to make him heir to the throne. When his
first adopted son Aelius Caesar died of illness,
Hadrian adopted another, Antoninus Pius, who
would succeed him when Hadrian died in his bed
after a long illness.
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. While the legend of Hadrian
will live on in the ruins his monumental
constructions, perhaps his memory is no better
preserved than in coins such as this: intimate
memorials passed from the hands of civilization
to civilization, from generation to generation that
appear as vibrant today as the day they were
struck.
- (C.0513)
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