Unusual Portrait of Hadrian

CNG 100, Lot: 1779. Estimate $500. Sold for $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Drachm (34mm, 21.80 g, 12h). Dated RY 2 (AD 117/8). Laureate bust right, slight drapery / Hadrian in quadriga right, holding branch and scepter; L B (date) above. Köln 757; Dattari (Savio) 1585 var. (obv. legend); K&G 32.50; Emmett 960.2. VF, reddish-brown patina with touches of green.

From the Syracuse Collection.

Hadrian’s portraits on his early coins in Alexandria more closely resemble Trajan, as the engravers in the provinces waited for an official Imperial model or bust to be sent out. In this case, by Hadrian’s regnal year 2, the engravers might have had access to or knowledge of what Hadrian looked like, as the portrait on the present coin is beginning to morph into a more accurate representation of Hadrian’s Imperial image.