Hadrian Denarius, RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 114

Monetary Context

The accession of Hadrian in August AD 117 occurred in the eastern provinces following the death of Trajan, initiating an intense transitional period across the Roman imperial administration and its mint system. Entering the year AD 118, Hadrian assumed his second consulship (COS II), an administrative milestone that immediately appeared on the imperial coinage produced at Rome. The silver denarius was the foundational silver denomination of the empire, serving as the primary payment vehicle for the military, civil administration, and major commercial transactions. Under Trajan, the denarius had seen heavy production funded in large part by the spoils of the Dacian Wars, but also a modest reduction in silver purity, stabilizing around eighty to eighty-five percent fineness with an average struck weight near 3.2 grams. In AD 118, as Hadrian consolidated his authority and prepared to enter the capital for the first time as Augustus, the mint of Rome issued a targeted sequence of denarii to celebrate his titles and communicate his domestic agenda. The specific issue catalogued as RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 114 highlights Fortuna Redux, appealing directly to the traditional deity overseeing safe imperial journeys and happy homecomings.

Production and Mints

The type was produced entirely by the imperial mint at Rome, which held exclusive control over official denarius output during this transitional period, aside from temporary eastern travel mints that operated earlier during Hadrian's stay in Antioch. Rome employed an organized division of workshops (officinae) to strike substantial quantities of precious-metal coinage, coordinating obverse and reverse die preparation across multiple concurrent themes. Metallurgical analyses conducted on early Hadrianic denarii demonstrate a continuation of the standard established late in Trajan's reign. The silver alloy consists of approximately eighty to eighty-two percent silver, balanced with copper and minor trace elements of lead, bismuth, and gold characteristic of Mediterranean silver sources. Blank flans were cast in open moulds before being struck between hand-carved steel or bronze dies. Hadrian 114 shows meticulous early-reign die cutting, featuring high-relief portraiture and carefully spaced lettering executed by the experienced engravers of the central urban mint.

Obverse Design

The obverse of RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 114 presents a right-facing portrait bust of Hadrian. The emperor is depicted wearing a laurel wreath tied at the nape of the neck with ribbon ties extending downward. His hair is composed of tight, layered curls rendered in classical style, and he wears a neatly trimmed, full beard, a striking departure from the clean-shaven tradition of Trajan and earlier Julio-Claudian rulers. The bust is characterized as bare-chested (bust truncated at the chest), with subtle traces of drapery visible on the far left shoulder, a recognized portrait convention catalogued as Type A or B variants in modern corpora. This format combines military simplicity with heroic nuditas, portraying Hadrian not merely as an administrator but as an athletic, cultured, and divinely favored general. Engravers at the Rome mint captured a relatively youthful yet mature likeness of the emperor, who was forty-two years old at the time of issue.

Reverse Design

The reverse iconography centers on Fortuna Redux seated left upon a backless seat or throne. In her right hand she holds a ship's rudder positioned vertically or tilted slightly, resting upon the ground to signify divine guidance and navigation across land and sea. In her left arm she cradles an overflowing cornucopia, symbolizing the agricultural abundance, wealth, and general prosperity that her presence bestows upon the Roman state. Fortuna Redux held deep religious and political resonance for the Roman people. First formalized under Augustus following his return from the east in 19 BC, her cult was routinely invoked during imperial journeys to ensure the safe conveyance of the princeps. In AD 118, Hadrian was traveling through the Danubian and Balkan provinces before making his grand entrance into Rome in July. The depiction on Hadrian 114 served as both a prayer and a political reassurance to the Senate and plebs that the rightful successor was returning safely to govern in person.

Legends and Inscriptions

The obverse legend reads IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, running clockwise from the lower left. This early inscription emphasizes Hadrian's adoption and legitimate inheritance by retaining the name Traian (Traianus), alongside the core imperial titles Imperator, Caesar, and Augustus. At this early date, Hadrian had not yet assumed the broad abbreviated formula that would characterize his later middle and late coinage (such as HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS). The reverse inscription is divided between the perimeter and the exergue. The peripheral legend reads P M TR P COS II, which expands to Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate, Consul Iterum. These elements record his high priesthood, his tribunician authority, and his second consulship, assumed on January 1, AD 118. In the lower exergue beneath the ground line sits the formulaic dedication FORT RED, abbreviating Fortunae Reduci ("To Fortuna who brings back"), explicitly clarifying the identity of the personification above.

Typology and Chronology

In the revised classification of Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC II, Part 3, second edition), type 114 is securely dated to AD 118 within Hadrian's second consulship. The type superseded the earlier AD 117 issues, which recorded his first consulship (COS) or lacked consular iteration, and it immediately preceded his third consulship (COS III), which began on January 1, AD 119. Within the broader AD 118 emission, the Rome mint paired the COS II legend with several thematic reverses, including Concordia, Iustitia, and Pietas, reflecting Hadrian's efforts to pacify domestic anxieties and affirm civil harmony. Type 114 is specifically defined by the bare-chested laureate bust with light drapery on the far shoulder facing right, matched with Fortuna seated left with rudder and cornucopia, and FORT RED in the exergue. Minor die variations exist in the precise rendering of the throne legs and the drapery folds, but the core design remained strictly uniform across the emission.

Circulation and Monetary Life

Denarii of type RIC II.3 114 entered general circulation across the Western provinces and Italy almost immediately upon production, carried through official disbursements, troop pay, and urban treasury distributions. Hoard evidence from Britain, Gaul, the Rhine frontier, and the Danubian limes demonstrates that early Hadrianic denarii circulated alongside worn Republican, Flavio-Trajanic, and later Antonine silver pieces throughout the second century AD. Because the fineness of the denarius remained relatively stable from Trajan's later years until the debasement under Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus, Hadrian 114 denarii remained in active use for decades. Many surviving specimens display moderate to heavy circulation wear consistent with continuous exchange well into the third century AD, before being systematically withdrawn or hoarded during the monetary instability of the Severan and post-Severan periods.

References

1. The Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume II, Part 3: From Hadrian to Antoninus Pius (AD 117-138) - Hadrian. no. 114
2. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, Volume III: Nerva to Hadrian. pp. 248-250
3. The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage: From the Peace of Augustus to the Reform of Septimius Severus. pp. 370-385
4. Untersuchungen zur römischen Reichsprägung des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Teil II: Die Reichsprägung zur Zeit des Hadrian. Teil II (Hadrian)