Hadrian Dupondius: RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 746

Monetary Context and Denominational Function

Under the Principate, the monetary system established by Augustus maintained a bimetallic and base-metal hierarchy that supported commercial and administrative transactions throughout the empire. The dupondius held a tariffed value of two asses, making it worth half a brass sestertius or one-eighth of a silver denarius. While the as was traditionally struck in relatively pure copper, the dupondius and sestertius were manufactured from orichalcum, a copper-zinc alloy possessing a bright, golden-yellow appearance when freshly minted. Because circulation wear and environmental patination could mute the visual difference in metal colour between a copper as and an orichalcum dupondius of comparable module, the imperial administration retained the radiate crown on the dupondius as an unmistakable denomination marker. By the reign of Hadrian (AD 117 to 138), base-metal coinage constituted the indispensable backbone of routine commercial exchanges, local market retail, and minor municipal payments across the Italian peninsula and the western provinces. Type 746 belongs to the reformed middle-bronze issues of the mid-120s AD, an era when Hadrian restructured both administrative departments and the epigraphic brevity of his official coinage. The dupondius played a vital role in providing exact change alongside silver denarii, preventing transaction friction in urban settings.

Production Standards and Minting at Rome

The entire production run for RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 746 is attributed exclusively to the imperial mint situated in Rome. During this phase of the early second century AD, the metropolitan mint maintained centralized control over official aes coinage destined for Italy and provincial garrisons. The metallurgical composition of the denomination relied on orichalcum, which ancient celators produced through the cementation process, melting copper with calamine zinc ore. Although individual specimens vary naturally in weight due to the Roman practice of al marco blank preparation, where flans were struck to achieve an average count per pound rather than precise individual weight, the median weight standard for Hadrianic dupondii generally clustered between eleven and fourteen grams, with flan diameters spanning twenty-six to twenty-eight millimetres. Flans were cast in individual moulds or gang-moulds before being hot-struck between engraved iron or bronze dies. Die-alignment within the Rome mint was customarily regulated to an upright or inverted axial orientation, commonly recorded at six o'clock or twelve o'clock. Engravers at Rome demonstrated exceptional technical competence during this period, rendering fine anatomical details on the portrait and crisp, well-spaced letterforms.

Obverse Design and Portraiture

The obverse of this issue presents a right-facing portrait of Hadrian wearing a radiate solar crown. This radiate crown had functioned since the Julio-Claudian era as a primary visual attribute distinguishing the dupondius from the similarly sized as, which featured either a bare or laureate head. In Hadrianic iconographical development, the portraiture of AD 124 to 125 marks a mature phase characterized by naturalistic facial modelling, meticulously arranged curled locks of hair, and the full, close-cropped beard that Hadrian famously popularized across the Roman world. The inclusion of the beard, diverging sharply from the clean-shaven conventions of his predecessors Trajan and Nerva, reflected Hadrian's deliberate embrace of classical Hellenic philosophical traditions while still asserting standard Roman militaristic and imperial authority. The truncation of the neck is executed cleanly, and the portrait fills the flan field without encroaching excessively on the circumscription. Subtle variations in the rendering of the radiate spikes, the angle of the jaw, and the drapery or bare neck denote the activity of different engravers within the officinae of the Rome mint.

Reverse Iconography: Pegasus

The reverse of type 746 depicts Pegasus, the mythical winged horse of Corinthian mythology, captured in dynamic motion springing toward the right with both wings elevated. Pegasus represents an intriguing iconographical choice within Hadrian's aes repertory. While common in classical Greek coinage and occasional Republican denarii, Pegasus appears selectively on Roman imperial issues, often associated with celestial immortality, swift movement, and military fame, particularly in connection with the legionary and equestrian orders. In the context of the mid-120s AD, the motif may evoke Hadrian's personal journeys across Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, his benefactions to Corinth, or his celebration of classical mythology following his initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries in AD 124. The winged steed is rendered with muscular grace, its forelegs bent as if launching into flight and its feathered wings detailed with fine incised plumage. The design is framed by the legend COS III in the upper or lateral field, with the numeral III occasionally found placed in the lower field or exergue depending on the specific die variant, alongside the senatorial authorization formula S C situated firmly in the exergue.

Epigraphy and Legend Structure

The inscriptions on RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 746 exemplify the major epigraphic reform initiated around AD 124. Hadrian abandoned the extensive, cumulative titulature typical of his early reign, which had listed his adopted names, imperial titles, tribunician powers, and proconsular offices in lengthy formulas. The obverse legend is condensed into the austere formula HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, rendered in a continuous curve clockwise around the portrait. This reduction to the simple imperial nomen and the prestigious title Augustus reflected supreme confidence in imperial authority, drawing a direct ideological line to the monumental simplicity of Augustan prototypes. On the reverse, the official inscription COS III records Hadrian's third consulship, an office he assumed in AD 119 and never renewed. Because he held no further ordinary consulships throughout his reign, the formula COS III remained a static component of his coinage from AD 119 until his death in AD 138, requiring numismatists to use portrait progression and stylistic phases to pinpoint precise issue dates. In the exergue, the formula S C represents Senatus Consulto, by decree of the Senate, confirming the formal constitutional endorsement of base-metal issues struck at Rome.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the original 1926 classification of Roman Imperial Coinage Volume II by Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham, Hadrianic aes coinage was organized in broad thematic blocks that conflated several distinct chronological phases. The modern revised corpus, RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) authored by Richard Abdy and Peter F. Mittag, established a rigorous chronological sequence based on die linkages, titulature changes, and portrait typology. Under this updated framework, type 746 is securely assigned to the issue period spanning AD 124 to 125, located within Hadrian's second general coin period. This specific type is isolated by the combination of the shortened obverse legend HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, the radiate head facing right, and the reverse showing Pegasus springing right with the legend COS III and S C in the exergue. Minor sub-variants exist at the die level, principally concerning whether the numeral III appears continuously with COS in the outer legend or is positioned separately in the lower field or exergue. Type 746 is part of a thematic group of middle bronzes sharing animal and mythological motifs produced concurrently with Hadrian's administrative reorganization.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Dupondii struck at Rome during the mid-120s AD circulated widely throughout the western regions of the Roman Empire, including Italia, the Gallic provinces, Hispania, and Britannia. Because base-metal denominations were not frequently hoarded in the same manner as high-purity silver denarii or gold aurei, archaeological recovery of type 746 occurs predominantly in urban settlement contexts, military camp excavations, and stray river or field losses. Site finds and stray recovery evidence demonstrate that Hadrianic middle bronzes remained in commercial circulation for decades after their production, frequently passing through commerce alongside Flavian and Trajanic issues until the late second or early third century AD. As these orichalcum pieces circulated over multiple generations, the zinc content in the alloy often leached or patinated, causing the distinctive golden appearance to darken into brown, olive, or green patinas. In many prolonged circulation contexts, severe surface attrition smoothed down the raised elements of the radiate crown and reverse legends, yet the bold outline of Pegasus and the prominent S C in the exergue often permitted lingering identification by ancient users and contemporary excavators.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 3: From Hadrian to Antoninus Pius (AD 117-138) - Hadrian. Type 746, pp. 128-135
2. The Production of Roman Bronze Coinage in the Second Century AD. American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 21, pp. 45-60
3. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 410-425
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 746. ric.2_3(2).hdn.746
5. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil II: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Hadrian. Stuttgart, 1933, pp. 88-95