The Cancellation of Public Debt

CNG 97, Lot: 655. Estimate $500. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Sestertius (35mm, 26.31 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 119-121. Laureate heroic bust right, slight drapery on shoulder; trace of balteus / Lictor standing left, holding fasces, setting fire to heap of bonds with torch. RIC II 590b; Banti 620. Near VF, green patina.

In July of AD 118 Hadrian made his first appearance in Rome as emperor to celebrate a Parthian triumph in the name of Trajan. He was quickly called away to Moesia to subdue the Sarmatians and Roxolani. While away, four high ranking senators – Lucius Quietus, Cornelius Palma, L. Publius Celsus and C. Avidius – were executed by the senate for an alleged conspiracy against Hadrian, despite a promise by Hadrian not to execute members of the Senate. To calm a suspicious public, Hadrian held a week long gladiatorial show, granted an extra public largesse, and, as this coin advertises, relinquished the public debt to the state equaling 900 million sestertii. This event culminated in an elaborate ceremony held in the Forum of Trajan where all records of these debts were set on fire.