Hadrian Sestertius, RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 870

Monetary Context and Denominational Role

During the High Roman Empire, the sestertius served as the principal large bronze denomination within the bimetallic and trimetallic currency system established by Augustus and preserved through the Antonine period. Valued at one quarter of a silver denarius or four copper asses, the sestertius fulfilled a dual economic and political function. Economically, it was the primary coin of account for state accounting, military pay balances, tax obligations, and major retail transactions across urban centers. Physically, its expansive flan provided imperial authorities with an unrivaled medium for monumental public messaging. The sestertius was manufactured from orichalcum, a golden-hued brass alloy predominantly composed of copper and zinc, which distinguished it visually and metallurgically from the red copper used for the as and quadrans. Under Hadrian, whose administration focused on administrative reform, judicial efficiency, and economic consolidation rather than territorial expansion, the bronze coinage maintained stable metallurgical integrity and consistent average weights generally centered between 24 and 28 grams. The senatorial formula S C (Senatus Consulto) emblazoned on the reverse recalled the traditional republican division of responsibilities, asserting that while the princeps held supreme executive authority over the mint, the senate retained nominal constitutional oversight over the base-metal issues.

Mint Operation and Manufacturing Technique

RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 870 was struck exclusively at the principal imperial mint operating in Rome. By the AD 120s, the Rome mint was an extraordinarily complex industrial establishment organized into distinct administrative units or officinae, operating under the oversight of an equestrian procurator monetae. The manufacture of sestertii demanded rigorous technical skill due to the substantial volume of metal required for each blank. Planchets were cast in open or two-part molds, occasionally displaying traces of runner bevels or filing around the rim to adjust individual weights to the prevailing legal standard. Before striking, flans were heated to achieve sufficient malleability, enabling the relief of deeply engraved steel dies to be fully transferred under heavy hammer blows. Die alignment for Hadrianic sestertii was generally executed with regular axial orientation, predominantly centered around six o'clock or twelve o'clock positions. The dies of this mid-reign issue display high-relief engraving characteristic of the finest phase of the Rome mint, marked by refined naturalism, plastic modeling of facial planes, and intricate rendering of drapery and military hardware.

Obverse Portraiture and Iconography

The obverse of this sestertius family features a mature right-facing head of Hadrian adorned with a laurel wreath, tied at the back of the neck with fluttering ribbons. Hadrian's adoption of a full, neatly trimmed beard and textured curled hair marked a profound aesthetic revolution in imperial self-presentation, consciously evoking classical Greek intellectual and philosophical traditions in contrast to the clean-shaven martial realism of his predecessors. By AD 126 to 127, the engravers at Rome had moved past the youthful, slightly angular portraits of his early accession issues to deliver a calm, authoritative portrait with plastic volume, pronounced brow lines, and subtle detailing in the beard curls. While the primary catalogue designation specifies a laureate head right with bare neck truncation, minor variations in the exact angle of the head, the tightness of the laurel ties, and occasional drapery across the far shoulder appear across surviving dies, reflecting the work of distinct master engravers collaborating within the central mint.

Reverse Iconography: Roma Victrix and Abundance

The reverse design presents an elaborate allegorical tableau featuring Roma, the personification of the eternal city and the empire. Roma is depicted seated toward the left upon a military cuirass and an oblong or round shield, capturing the concept of hard-won peace resting upon unyielding military readiness. In her extended right hand, she supports a statuette of Victory holding a laurel wreath, while her left arm cradles a full cornucopia brimming with fruits of the earth. In several attested die variants, Roma rests her foot upon a helmet or a supplemental shield placed on the ground, further emphasizing the subjugation of hostile arms. This specific combination of attributes balances martial triumph (Victory and captured armor) with civilian prosperity and material abundance (the cornucopia). Unlike Trajanic compositions that frequently celebrated ongoing military subjugation, Hadrian's Roma embodies an empire secure within its fortified borders, enjoying the fruits of consolidated peace and defensive readiness.

Epigraphic Analysis and Titulature

The epigraphy of RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 870 illustrates Hadrian's deliberate simplification of imperial protocol during the central portion of his reign. The obverse legend reads HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, running clockwise along the border. This concise phrasing eliminated the hereditary and triumphal epithets that characterized his earliest issues, such as IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG, projecting supreme majesty through name and imperial title alone. The reverse field carries the consular dating formula COS III across the upper border, while S C is inscribed boldly in the exergue beneath the ground line. Hadrian entered his third and final consulship on January 1, AD 119, alongside Publius Dasumius Rusticus; because he refused all subsequent consular appointments, COS III remained a static titular element on his coinage for the remaining nineteen years of his reign. The exergual placement of S C confirms the legal basis of the issue as authorized by the senate, conforming to standard imperial conventions for bronze and brass denominations.

Typology, Dating, and Die Sequences

In the original 1926 edition of Roman Imperial Coinage, Hadrianic issues were arranged primarily by reverse themes, frequently conflating issues produced years apart. The revised second edition, published in 2019 by Richard Abdy and Peter Franz Mittag, fundamentally reconstructed the chronological sequence of Hadrian's coinage based on legend evolutions, portrait styles, and hoard composition. Type 870 is securely attributed to the transitional phase spanning AD 126 to 127. This placement is confirmed by two critical numismatic markers: the adoption of the shortened HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS obverse legend around AD 125, and the complete absence of the title Pater Patriae (P P), which Hadrian formally accepted in early AD 128. Numismatists distinguish this type from closely related contemporary issues by the specific posture and attributes of Roma; adjacent catalogued types depict Roma seated on a throne, standing, or holding a spear rather than the cornucopia. The internal die linkage of this group demonstrates that the Rome mint struck the Roma Victrix series in considerable volume as part of a sustained emissions program preceding Hadrian's second major imperial tour.

Circulation Patterns, Wear, and Hoard Evidence

As high-denomination base-metal coinage, sestertii of Hadrian enjoyed an exceptionally protracted commercial lifespan. Hoard evidence and archaeological excavation records across Roman Britain, Gaul, the Rhineland, the Danubian provinces, and the Italian peninsula demonstrate that sestertii issued in the 120s AD remained in regular daily circulation for over a century, frequently surviving in hoards deposited during the political and monetary crises of the mid-third century AD. Because orichalcum was a durable alloy, these coins withstood intensive handling, though prolonged circulation typically resulted in substantial wear, softening the fine details of Hadrian's beard, Roma's drapery, and the exergual lettering. Large provincial hoards, such as the Shapwick villa hoard in Britain and multiple urban deposits along the German limes, illustrate that Hadrianic sestertii circulated widely alongside Trajanic, Antonine, and Severan bronze. Their presence in civilian markets far from Rome confirms that the central mint systematically distributed vast quantities of sestertii to provincial military treasuries and urban administrative hubs to sustain regional trade.

References

1. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. clii-clxx, 430-435
2. Roman Coins from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. pp. 138-145
3. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 870. Type ric.2_3(2).hdn.870
4. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 3: From Hadrian to Antoninus Pius: Hadrian. RIC II.3, Hadrian 870
5. Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil II: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Hadrian. pp. 110-125