HADRIAN. 117-138 AD. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 27.65 g, 6h). Struck 117 AD. IMP CAES DIVI TRAIAN AVG F TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER, laureate and cuirassed bust right, seen from front, slight drapery on left shoulder / DAC PARTHICO P M TR P COS P P, CONCORDIA and S C in exergue, Concordia seated left on throne, cornucopia at side, holding patera and resting elbow on statuette of Spes standing left set on low basis. Cf. RIC II 535a; BMCRE 1103; Banti 147; cf. Cohen 259. VF, dark green patina, hairline flan crack. Attractive strike. Extremely rare with S C in exergue and an important first issue.
Banti notes only two examples of this type with S C in the exergue: one is in the British Museum; the other appeared in Hess-Leu (23 March 1961), lot 161.
When he became emperor following the death of Trajan in 117 AD, questions immediately arose regarding the validity of Hadrian's succesion. Although it is clear from Hadrian's early career and marriage to Sabina (Trajan's grand-niece) that the emperor brought his young kinsman within the imperial court, Trajan, unlike Nerva before, made no move to adopt Hadrian formally, instead possibly preferring others. This fact prompted Hadrian, in the early days of his reign to emphasize his legitimacy to the succession. Hadrian declared Trajan divus and ordered his ashes installed in the Column of his newly complete Forum. Trajan's name and titles were incorporated into the new imperial nomenclature, a privilege reserved solely for legitimate heirs. At the same time, coins were struck to associate the new reign with the previous administration and declare a peaceful transferral of power. The legend of our sestertius, DAC PARTHICO (in the dedicatory dative), clearly refers to Trajan, while the Concordia reverse type (to date, uncommon with the addition of Spes), emphasized by the inclusion of CONCORDIA in the exergue, demonstrated Hadrian's potential willingness for the time to continue Trajan's policies, thereby insuring continued political harmony, something which disintegrated as Hadrian's reign progressed.
