Hadrian Silver Denarius, RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 108

Monetary and Political Context

The monetary system inherited by Hadrian in August 117 AD remained anchored in the bimetallic and imperial currency reforms established during the Julio-Claudian era and refined under the Flavians and Trajan. The silver denarius functioned as the operational backbone of imperial finance, army pay, taxation, and inter-regional commerce across the provinces. Under Trajan, vast quantities of silver coinage had been issued, funded in significant part by the bullion seized during the Dacian Wars. However, the subsequent Parthian campaigns and widespread provincial rebellions toward the end of Trajan's reign placed substantial fiscal strain upon the imperial treasury. Upon Hadrian's sudden accession at Antioch, the central government confronted immediate strategic challenges, including frontier instability in the east, Moesia, and northern Britain, alongside domestic political anxieties surrounding the execution of four consular senators early in the reign. In this environment of military contraction and domestic consolidation, early silver issues such as RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 108 played an indispensable political role. Before Hadrian personally entered Rome in July 118 AD, the senate and imperial bureaucracy in the capital oversaw initial minting operations under imperial direction. The introduction of Concordia on the reverse directly answered the urgent need to project imperial accord between the new princeps, the Roman Senate, and the legions stationed across the empire. By emphasizing concordia ordinum (the harmony of the social orders) and concordia exercituum (the loyalty of the army), the issue sought to dispel lingering rumors surrounding Hadrian's adoption and reassure the Roman elite of a stable, harmonious succession.

Production Standards and Mint Organization

Production of this denarius was executed exclusively by the central imperial mint in Rome, which operated under the administrative oversight of the imperial equestrian procurator monetae and senatorial officials. While Hadrian maintained several provincial or travelling mint facilities in the East during 117 and 118 AD to furnish coin for eastern garrisons, the distinctive artistic execution, flan preparation, and die axis regularity of RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 108 point unambiguously to the primary Roman workshops. Die cutting at Rome in 118 AD displayed exceptional sculptural refinement, continuing the realistic, high-relief portrait traditions developed during the late Trajanic period. Metallurgical analyses conducted on early Hadrianic denarii indicate a continuation of the silver standard maintained in the late reign of Trajan. The silver denarius was struck at roughly 96 to 99 pieces per Roman pound (libra of approximately 327 grams), producing an average nominal target weight around 3.20 to 3.30 grams, with individual specimens typically spanning from 3.00 to 3.45 grams due to contemporary batch-aliquot minting techniques. The silver fineness hovered consistently around 88 to 90 percent purity, with copper making up the primary balance of the alloy. Blanks were cast in spherical or lenticular moulds before being cold- or warm-hammered between engraved bronze or iron dies. The Rome mint generally maintained a strict die orientation, frequently adhering to a six o'clock or twelve o'clock alignment, reflecting the stringent quality-control practices of the metropolitan officinae.

Obverse Iconography

The obverse displays a dignified right-facing bust of Hadrian, rendered with careful attention to naturalistic physiognomy. He wears a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck, with the ribbons trailing downward. His facial features present the distinctive hallmarks of his early official portraiture: a full, carefully arranged head of curled hair, a broad forehead, deep-set eyes, and a neat, cropped beard. Hadrian's introduction of the full beard broke decisively with two centuries of clean-shaven imperial convention, presenting the emperor simultaneously in the guise of a cultivated philhellene philosopher and an active military commander. The bust truncation is rendered with a bare chest, though subtle folds of drapery are visible on his far, left shoulder. This specific bust type represents one of the classic metropolitan conventions for young and active emperors, conveying classical heroic nudity while maintaining Roman decorum through the restrained shoulder drapery. The modeling of the musculature and facial contours demonstrates the mature classicism characterizing the Roman engravers of 118 AD, differentiating this Rome issue from the rougher, stylized profiles struck concurrently in Syrian and eastern workshops.

Reverse Iconography

The reverse iconography of RIC 108 features Concordia, the divine personification of mutual agreement, seated toward the left upon a backless, high-cushioned throne. In her extended right hand, she holds a shallow patera, an emblem of religious piety and sacrificial libation, signaling that civic and military harmony were rooted in strict adherence to ancestral religious rituals (pietas). Her left arm rests comfortably upon a tiny statuette of Spes, who is depicted holding a flower bud and gathering the hem of her drapery in the traditional archaic Greek posture. Beneath the throne, a cornucopia rests on its side, symbolizing the material abundance, fertile harvests, and economic security that inevitably flow from peace and concord. The visual juxtaposition of Concordia resting upon Spes is especially sophisticated. Spes personified the expectation of good fortune and the peaceful continuation of the imperial line. By visually anchoring Concordia upon Spes, the die engravers created a composite ideological statement: the current concord of the Roman world served as the foundation for the future hope of the empire. This symbolic combination had surfaced earlier under Trajan and the Flavians, but its recurrence in 118 AD specifically served to legitimate Hadrian's accession following the sudden passing of Trajan.

Epigraphy and Legends

The obverse legend reads IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, running clockwise from the lower left. This inscription is diagnostic for the earliest phase of Hadrian's reign, dating between late 117 and 119 AD. Notably, Hadrian places the name of his adoptive father, Trajan, prominently within his own nomenclature, omitting the customary divi filius (son of the deified) formula in favor of presenting himself as Trajan's direct, eponymous continuation. This explicit titling served to reinforce his legitimacy among legionaries and provincial subjects who had revered Trajan. The reverse legend is split between the peripheral inscription and the exergue. Encircling the upper field is P M TR P COS II, expanding to Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul Iterum. Hadrian was invested with the office of Pontifex Maximus early in 118 AD, held his tribunician power annually, and entered his second consulship on January 1, 118 AD. The exergue beneath the ground line carries the bold inscription CONCORD, abbreviating Concordia. The epigraphy exhibits the clean, classical Roman lapidary style typical of metropolitan engraving, featuring well-defined triangular serifs and uniform letter heights.

Typology and Chronological Classification

In the modern classification system established by the revised second edition of Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC II, Part 3), type 108 is firmly placed in Hadrian's second emission from the mint of Rome in 118 AD. In the legacy classification of Harold Mattingly and Edward Sydenham (RIC II, first edition), this reverse type was grouped broadly under early issues without the detailed sequence now established by Richard Abdy and Peter Harter. The critical chronological anchor is the formula COS II, which limits the emission to the period before January 1, 119 AD, when Hadrian assumed his third consulship (COS III). Within the 118 AD production sequence, RIC 108 forms part of a closely coordinated group of denarii sharing the same reverse titular formula (P M TR P COS II) combined with diverse exergual personifications, such as FORT RED (Fortuna Redux), IOD (Iustitia), and PIETAS. The Concordia seated with patera, Spes, and cornucopia appears across several distinct bust varieties in this emission, including fully draped, cuirassed, or bare-headed portraits. Type 108 is strictly defined by the combination of the bare chest with light drapery on the far shoulder and the laurel wreath facing right. Surviving dies show minor variations in the size of the throne, the angle of the cornucopia, and the specific rendering of the drapery folds, but the fundamental typological design remains remarkably unified across production runs.

Circulation, Hoards, and Deposition

Denarii of type RIC 108 entered broad circulation across both the western and eastern provinces, moving rapidly along military supply corridors and major trade networks. Because early Hadrianic denarii were struck to a recognized, reliable silver standard, they were accepted alongside late Flavian and Trajanic issues without tariff or penalty. Extensive hoard evidence from across Roman Britain, Gaul, the German frontiers, and the Balkans illustrates that denarii of 118 AD circulated steadily throughout the second century AD, often remaining in active commercial pools until the substantial debasements under Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Specimens recovered from major hoards, such as the Shapwick and Falkirk hoards in Britain or continental deposits along the Danube, typically display moderate to heavy wear consistent with several decades of uninterrupted handling. While early issues bearing Hadrian's second consulship are less prolific in sheer numbers than the massive COS III issues struck later in his reign (from 119 AD onward), RIC 108 remains well represented in institutional collections and documented archaeological contexts. Its steady presence in hoards demonstrates the efficiency with which the central Roman mint integrated newly minted commemorative coinage into the broader imperial monetary stream.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 3: From Hadrian to Antoninus Pius (AD 117-138) Hadrian. pp. 95-102, no. 108
2. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Septimius Severus. pp. 312-328
3. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum (BMCRE), Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 245-248, nos. 58-62
4. Online Coins of the Roman Empire: RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 108. Type 108