Hadrian’s Idealized Portrait
Posthumous Issue, Under Antoninus Pius

CNG 99, Lot: 633. Estimate $7500. Sold for $7500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Hadrian. AD 117-138. AV Aureus (20mm, 7.38 g, 7h). Rome mint. Posthumous issue struck under Antoninus Pius, July-October AD 138. HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS, youthful, bareheaded bust right, aegis at point of bust / COS III P P, Hadrian, in military attire, standing left, extending right hand and cradling spear in left arm; aquila and signum to left; signum to right. RIC II 204b (same obverse die); P.V. Hill, The Undated Coins of Rome, pp. 78-9, and “Abnormal Hadrianic Portraits,” NumCirc LXXIV.7-8 (July-August 1966), p. 179 and pl. II, 5 (same obv. die); Strack 331Do; Calicó 1239a = Triton VII, lot 971 = Mazzini 485 = Jameson 103 (same dies); BMCRE 530 (same obv. die); Biaggi 601 (same obv. die). VF, light cabinet toning, flan split.

Several of Hadrian’s aurei appear with a younger, more idealized portrait; the obverse legends, however, date these coins to the later years of his reign. An aureus (Hunter 180) of the same type and issue date as our coin clearly shows an older portrait, consistent with a man who was in his early 60s. Two similar aurei, but with IOVI VICTORI reverse type, show the same divergence of portraiture (S 3397 [older bust]; S 4540 [younger bust]). Although these idealized-portrait issues have two legend varieties, each datable to different periods in Hadrian’s reign, there is die linkage within this small group indicating that they were contemporaneous issues. The latest datable legend would place them within the last issues of Hadrian’s reign, circa 134-138 AD. Nonetheless, the idealized portraiture is so different from the bulk of the coinage theoretically struck at the same time, that it is clear that this group was not struck in this period, either. Therefore, they must be placed after this period, after Hadrian’s death. The portraiture itself is key; its idealized nature suggests that these coins are posthumous issues (compare with the various ‘restitution’ issues of earlier reigns).

It is known that Antoninus Pius quarreled with the Senate for a period over the question of Hadrian's deification. During this time, it is believed that Pius refused to issue his own coinage and refused to accept his accession unless the deification was granted. A survey of the reverse types known for this idealized-portrait issue reveals they focus on the divine nature of Hadrian's predecessor and adopted father, Trajan (cf. S 4538-9). Others focus on Jupiter, a divinity with imperial associations. As this coinage must be posthumous, this, combined with the portraiture, suggests that this issue is related to the divine qualities of Hadrian himself. Such propaganda would have been useful for Pius' cause in urging Hadrian's deification, and must have been struck at Pius’ behest. After succeeding in this cause, in recognition of Antoninus' efforts to deify his predecessor, he was granted the cognomen Pius by the Senate.