An early Hadrian rarity

[Marcus]

One of my favourite pastimes: going through auctions where all coins are unattributed and looking for interesting rarities, like this one, which I was able to win:

Hadrian, year 117, 2nd emission

Obv
IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIANO AVG DIVI TRA
laureate draped and cuirassed bust r.

Rev
PARTH F DIVI NER NEP P M TR P COS / IVSTITIA
Justitia seated l. on throne, holding sceptre and patera

RIC II.3 62 (R3), Strack 15 var

The type itself is only scarce, but that bust type (D1 in RIC II.3, γ1 in Strack) is very rare for denarii in this 2nd emission of the year 117 (R2 in RIC II.3 for the four other denarius types, nos. 55, 59, 66, and 69).

RIC II.3 cites one specimen only in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge (therefore classified as R3), but there is a third - besides this one - (being misdescribed as RIC 6 instead of RIC 11 var.): https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=270680 , so this variant is also „only“ R2 like the others. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Marcus

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Pretty cool!

[John Conduitt]

Well spotted. It is an unusual Hadrian portrait.

[Roman Collector]

Nice cherry-pick!! I had a similar experience earlier this year with this coin. It has the same reverse type as yours but has completely different inscriptions and dates from earlier in the year.

Hadrian, 117-138 CE.
Roman AR denarius, 2.51 g, 19.1 mm, 7 h.
Rome, 117 CE.
Obv: IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER DAC, laureate heroic bust of Hadrian, right, with drapery on left shoulder.
Rev: PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F P M TR P COS P P, Justitia seated left on throne, holding patera and scepter; IVSTITIA in exergue.
Refs: RIC II.3 (2nd ed.) 19; BMCRE 12; RSC 875a; Strack 5; Sear --. Unlisted with this bust type in RIC (1st ed.) and Cohen.
Notes: Rare bust type. Double die match to the British Museum specimen and Heritage Auction 3063, lot 33412, 1/16/2018.

[CPK]

Very nice score!

[Marcus]

A nice find as well @Roman Collector. 

In the meantime I have found the Fitzwilliam coin on their website: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/147472 . It is a double die match to the Elsen one, but not to mine. My obverse die is a match to the Vienna specimen of RIC II.3 55 (CONCORD), pictured there.

Mini-rant aside: The search function on the Fitzwilliam website is not user friendly (to put it mildly). You have to go through all Hadrian denarii in order to find a specific coin. If the museum goes through the pain of cataloguing all its coins anyway, why not include inscriptions etc.? If you want to search by RIC numbers you have to know that the format is e.g. "RIC: 2.340.11c", and you have to search for "2.340.11c" exactly in order to find the coin.

[Sulla80]

Great find @Marcus!  I have this early Hadrian with "DIVI TRAIAN AVG F" declaring Hadrian as "son of deified Trajan". Trajan had not clearly defined his successor. Trajan died, August 8 or 9 in AD 117. On his death bed, he named Hadrian as his successor - at least that is what the letter signed by Plotina said. Hadrian was 41-years-old and decisively took control, and had he not, there might have been another period of civil war.
More on this coin here: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/transition-of-power

Hadrian, AD 117-138, AR denarius (18.9mm, 3.32g, 7h), Rome mint, struck AD 117

Obv: IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER DAC, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right

Rev: PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F P M TR P COS P P Trajan presenting globe to Hadrian, each holding scroll

Ref: RIC II 2c p.338
 

Edited September 23, 2023 by Sulla80

[Marcus]

Thank you @Sulla80. I happen to have the slightly later ADOPTIO version of this type:

Hadrian, year 117, 1st emission

Obv
IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER DAC 
laureate bust r. with slight drapery

Rev
PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F PM TR P COS P P / ADOPTIO
Trajan and Hadrian standing vis-à-vis, clasping hands, holding rolls

RIC II.3 10 (R2), Strack 2ε 

Rare only due to this combination of bust type and the missing O in HADRIAN. I don't know whether there is a deeper meaning behind dative and nominative versions of his name, or whether it's just changes due to the length of the legend and the juxtaposition of the 2 O's.

 

Edited September 23, 2023 by Marcus

[Heliodromus]

3 hours ago, Sulla80 said:

More on this coin here: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/transition-of-power

Nice blog!

 

[Sulla80]

2 hours ago, Marcus said:

Thank you @Sulla80. I happen to have the slightly later ADOPTIO version of this type:

Hadrian, year 117, 1st emission

An excellent coin - a type that I hope to someday add as companion to my coin above!  Thanks for posting.

[Salomons Cat]

On 9/23/2023 at 1:15 PM, Marcus said:

Thank you @Sulla80. I happen to have the slightly later ADOPTIO version of this type:

Hadrian, year 117, 1st emission

Obv
IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER DAC 
laureate bust r. with slight drapery

Rev
PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F PM TR P COS P P / ADOPTIO
Trajan and Hadrian standing vis-à-vis, clasping hands, holding rolls

RIC II.3 10 (R2), Strack 2ε 

Rare only due to this combination of bust type and the missing O in HADRIAN. I don't know whether there is a deeper meaning behind dative and nominative versions of his name, or whether it's just changes due to the length of the legend and the juxtaposition of the 2 O's.

 

I like the ADOPTIO coin due to its historical importance!
I don't know why Hadrian sticks his tongue out on mine 🤔

HADRIAN (117-138). Denarius. Antioch. Weight: 3.05g, Diameter: 17mm.
Obv: IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIANO OPT AVG GER DAC. Laureate and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F P M TR P COS P P / ADOPTIO. Trajan and Hadrian standing vis-à-vis, clasping hands; one emperor holding scroll.
RIC² 2959.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Salomons Cat