Hadrian As, RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 759

Monetary Context and Function

Under the Principate, the copper-alloy as functioned as the primary workhorse denomination for small-scale retail purchases, minor wage payments, and daily marketplace exchange. Valued at one-fourth of a brass sestertius and one-sixteenth of a silver denarius, the as was essential for maintaining low-level liquidity throughout urban Italy and Romanized provincial centers. While earlier Augustan monetary reforms established pure copper for the as and orichalcum for the sestertius and dupondius, the second-century Rome mint maintained strict control over base-metal standards, ensuring that these token denominations preserved their established public confidence. The issue of RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 759 belongs to the substantial reorganization of base-metal production initiated during Hadrian's third consulship, which commenced in AD 119 and remained his final consular appointment. By the mid-120s AD, following several years of extensive provincial travel, Hadrian's administration utilized the bronze coinage to project programmatic themes of divine favor, imperial vigilance, and Roman martial continuity, anchoring low-value everyday currency to core civic virtues.

Mint Operation and Production Techniques

The entire production run of RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 759 was executed at the central imperial mint in Rome. By the second century AD, the Rome mint was a highly organized administrative and industrial enterprise staffed by specialized craftsmen, including die-engravers (scalptores), blank-casters, flan-trimmers, and striking teams working under equestrian procurators. Flans were cast in open or bivalve molds, yielding circular blanks that were heated to red heat prior to striking between engraved iron or bronze dies. The lower die (anvil die) traditionally received the obverse portrait, ensuring greater stability during the hammer blow, while the reverse die was set into a handheld punch. The alloy used for mid-imperial asses was predominantly unalloyed copper or low-tin bronze, distinguishing them from the golden-hued brass used for dupondii and sestertii. As with most second-century Roman base-metal issues, striking was carried out without strict die alignment, though a vertical orientation (roughly 6 or 12 o'clock) was frequently achieved. Die wear, slight off-center alignment, and minor flan irregularities were normal features of this mass-produced civic coinage.

Obverse Portraiture and Attributes

The obverse of this type displays a mature, heroic bust of Hadrian facing right. In keeping with the specific die variant recorded under type 759, the portrait combines three distinct iconographic elements: a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with fluttering ribbons, drapery arranged over the shoulder, and a molded military cuirass visible at the chest and neck. The bust may be rendered viewed from the rear or from the side, demonstrating the minor variations permitted to individual die-engravers working within the Rome mint's official stylistic canons. Hadrian's carefully curled hair and trimmed beard, which he famously adopted in emulation of Greek intellectual ideals and military field custom, are executed in crisp relief. The laurel wreath functions as an explicit emblem of imperial victory and religious sacrosanctity, while the cuirass reinforces the princeps' position as commander-in-chief (imperator) of the Roman legions, even as the legend projects a simplified civilian demeanor.

Reverse Iconography and Composition

The reverse composition presents a classic, dignified rendering of Roma, the divine personification of the Roman state. She is shown seated left upon a molded military cuirass, a stance derived from classical Hellenistic representations of Athena. Her left leg is relaxed, while her right foot rests deliberately upon an overturned helmet, symbolizing dominion over warfare and the pacification of arms. In her extended right hand, Roma cradles a small statuette of winged Victory, who offers a wreath toward her, while her upright left hand supports a vertical spear or scepter. Resting against the base of the cuirass behind her is a large oval or round shield, completing the martial panoply. The spatial arrangement creates a balanced triangular composition, flanked in the lower field by the traditional senatorial authority formula. This specific iconography conveys that Roman security and victorious prestige are firmly anchored in military preparedness and enduring constitutional order.

Inscriptions and Epigraphic Analysis

The epigraphy of RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 759 exemplifies the radical streamlining of imperial legends introduced around AD 124. The obverse legend reads HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, written continuously around the circumference. By omitting the earlier imperial formula that listed his adopted descent from Trajan and Nerva, as well as the title Imperator and the office of Pontifex Maximus, this legend asserted Hadrian's established status simply through his personal name and the supreme honorific Augustus. The reverse carries the abbreviated consular dating COS III (Consul Tertium), indicating that Hadrian had entered his third consulship, a tenure that began on January 1, AD 119 and was never renewed for a fourth term. In the exergual area beneath the ground line sits the formula S C (Senatus Consulto), translated as 'by decree of the Senate.' While the emperor retained absolute control over imperial monetary policy, the inclusion of S C on base-metal issues preserved the traditional constitutional fiction that Rome's civic bronze remained under senatorial auspices.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the updated chronology established by Richard Abdy and Peter Harling in the second edition of Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC II, Part 3), type 759 is placed specifically between AD 124 and AD 125. This placement rests upon the absolute chronological marker of the introduction of the HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS legend series, which replaced the earlier IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG legends following Hadrian's initial inspection tours of the western provinces. Type 759 belongs to a parallel suite of base-metal denominations, sharing its reverse design of Roma seated on a cuirass with sestertii and dupondii struck during the same emission period. It is distinguished from dupondii by the absence of the radiate crown (the radiate crown being the standard imperial indicator of the double-as denomination) and by its copper composition. It is distinguished from neighboring as issues by the precise combination of Hadrian's draped and cuirassed bust facing right with the specific reverse attributes of Roma holding Victory and resting her foot on a helmet.

Circulation Patterns and Monetary Life

Asses produced at the Rome mint during Hadrian's third consulship saw wide circulation across the Roman Empire, although their highest concentrations in archaeological contexts occur in Italy, the Danube frontier, Gaul, and Roman Britain. Because copper-alloy denominations possessed intrinsic metal values noticeably below their assigned legal-tender values, they circulated predominantly as fiat currency within provincial markets. Hoard evidence and site finds reveal that mid-imperial asses frequently remained in commercial circulation for many decades, often continuing to change hands through the Antonine and Severan eras until severe wear rendered the portrait and legends nearly illegible. Countermarks from subsequent military campaigns are occasionally found on earlier Julio-Claudian and Flavian asses, but Hadrianic pieces from AD 124-125 generally circulated uncountermarked, reflecting stable currency acceptance throughout the western provinces during the prolonged peace that marked the central years of Hadrian's reign.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 3: From Hadrian to Antoninus Pius (AD 117-138) - Hadrian. Type 759
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. Hadrian, Bronze Coinage (Rome)
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 759. ric.2_3(2).hdn.759
4. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil II: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Hadrian. Munzpragung der Jahre 124-128 n. Chr.