Sabina Orichalcum Sestertius, RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 2597

Monetary Context and Denominational Function

During the reign of Hadrian (AD 117-138), the Roman monetary system continued to operate under the institutional foundations established by Augustus. The sestertius stood as the premier large-format base-metal denomination, valued at four asses, two dupondii, or one-quarter of a silver denarius. Cast and struck from orichalcum (a brass alloy of copper and zinc prized for its golden appearance when freshly minted), the sestertius filled a vital role in domestic market transactions, high-volume retail payments, and accounting across the empire. Beyond its daily commercial utility, the sestertius offered the largest flan among routinely circulating denominations, making it an ideal canvas for the transmission of imperial ideology, state religion, and dynastic legitimacy. In the later 130s AD, imperial issues increasingly commemorated members of the extended imperial house, asserting continuity and institutional stability as Hadrian's health deteriorated. The coinage struck in the name of Empress Vibia Sabina formed an essential component of this public program, reinforcing the prestige of the Augusta through familiar religious and ancestral themes.

Mint Location and Production Technology

The sestertii of type RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 2597 were manufactured exclusively at the imperial mint in Rome. By the second century AD, the Rome mint operated under a highly organized administrative and technical apparatus, divided into distinct officinae responsible for regular base-metal and precious-metal output. Production began with the casting of heavy, disc-shaped orichalcum blanks, which were adjusted for weight within target tolerances. The alloy composition of Hadrianic sestertii generally contained around 75 to 85 percent copper combined with zinc, tin, and trace impurities, though proportions varied naturally between melts. These flans were typically struck hot between engraved bronze or iron dies. The obverse die was fixed in an anvil to absorb the primary impact, while the reverse die was hand-held and struck with heavy hammers. This dynamic manufacturing method resulted in subtle differences in strike quality, die alignment, and flan thickness across individual examples, while maintaining strict adherence to the official weight standard of approximately 24 to 28 grams.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of RIC 2597 presents a left-facing bust of Augusta Sabina, an orientation noticeably scarcer than the standard right-facing imperial portraits of the era. Sabina is rendered with draped shoulders and an elaborate royal coiffure. Her hair is drawn back smoothly from the brow, crowned with a stephane (or diadem), and gathered into a plaited queue that falls gracefully along the nape of her neck. This hairstyle represents the distinctive later fashion of Sabina's court, diverging from the towering, honeycomb curls favored by the earlier Flavian and Trajanic eras in favor of a classical, Hellenic-inspired restraint. The portrait conveys maturity, dignity, and serene elegance, echoing the broader Hadrianic revival of classical Greek sculptural ideals. Engravers at the Rome mint captured delicate nuances in the facial profile and drapery folds, demonstrating the elevated technical and artistic standards achieved by imperial die cutters during the AD 130s.

Reverse Iconography and Cultural Symbolism

The reverse design displays Venus Genetrix, the divine ancestress of the Roman people and the traditional protector of the imperial family. Venus is depicted standing and facing right, engaged in the classic gesture of drawing up a fold of her drapery from her shoulder with her right hand while cradling an apple in her extended left hand. The apple serves as an enduring attribute referencing the Judgment of Paris and Venus's divine beauty, while the raised drapery evokes bridal modesty and feminine grace. In the lower fields to the left and right of the deity stands the bold inscription S C (Senatus Consulto), affirming that the bronze coin was struck under the formal constitutional authority of the Roman Senate. By invoking Venus Genetrix rather than Venus Felix or Venus Victrix, this issue stressed maternal blessing, dynastic virtue, and divine lineage, projecting Sabina as the idealized embodiment of Roman womanhood and imperial sanctity.

Epigraphy and Legend Analysis

The obverse inscription reads SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI AVG P P, beginning in the lower left field and continuing clockwise around the periphery. This legend is noteworthy for explicitly naming Sabina in relation to her husband, Hadrian, who is titled Augustus and Pater Patriae ('Father of the Fatherland'). Hadrian formally accepted the title Pater Patriae in AD 128, providing a definitive terminus post quem for coin series bearing this extended formula. The explicit grammatical linking of the empress to Hadrian AVG P P firmly anchors her status within the legal and political prestige of the reigning princeps. On the reverse, the legend VENERI GENETRICI is written in the dative case ('To Venus the Ancestress'), signifying a formal religious dedication to the goddess. The letters S C, positioned across the lower reverse field, reiterate the traditional republican formula by which senatorial consent governed the minting of base-metal coinage.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the revised classification of Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 3 (second edition), this issue is catalogued under number 2597. It is placed within the late bronze issues of Hadrian struck between AD 136 and 138. Sabina's coinage is broadly divided into lifetime issues and posthumous consecration series (bearing legends such as DIVA AVGVSTA SABINA). Type 2597 belongs firmly to the late lifetime phase, characterized by the mature portraiture with hair in a queue and the extended titulature mentioning Hadrian as P P. Sister types within this sequence include sestertii with identical legends depicting Venus Genetrix seated, as well as variants featuring right-facing busts or alternative reverse personifications such as Concordia, Pietas, and Vesta. The left-facing bust paired with the standing Venus Genetrix distinguishes RIC 2597 as a specific, highly refined emission within the broader late Hadrianic bronze coinage.

Circulation Patterns and Archaeological Evidence

Following their release from the mint in Rome, sestertii of Sabina entered broad monetary circulation across the western provinces and the Italian peninsula. Because second-century base-metal coinage circulated extensively and possessed durable purchasing power, high-grade orichalcum sestertii frequently remained in market use for decades, sometimes circulating into the Severan era until reduced by severe wear. Archaeological coin hoards and stratified settlement deposits throughout Roman Britain, Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian provinces attest to the active dispersion of late Hadrianic bronze. While silver denarii travelled throughout the entirety of the Roman world, heavy bronze denominations like the sestertius met local transactional demands, paid civic wages, and facilitated regional commerce, gradually losing weight through continuous physical wear over generations of exchange.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Vol. III: Nerva to Hadrian. Hadrian (Sabina)
2. Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE): RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 2597. ric.2_3(2).hdn.2597
3. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II, Part 3: Hadrian. Hadrian 2597
4. Untersuchungen zur romischen Reichspragung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil II: Die Reichspragung zur Zeit des Hadrian. Sabina sestertii