Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 1474. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

HADRIAN. 117-138 AD. AE Sestertius (24.94 gm). Struck circa 134-138 AD. Laureate and draped bust right / DISCIPLINA AVG in exergue, Hadrian advancing right, holding roll, followed by three soldiers carrying standards and an officer holding a staff. RIC II 746; BMCRE 1487; Cohen 542. VF, orichalcum surfaces, minor pitting in obverse field, light porosity. Very rare. ($750)

From the Tony Hardy Collection.

RIC, in discussing the reverse type, states it "celebrates the military reforms of the Emperor", without defining what specific event triggered the commemoration on this sestertius. It is most likely related to the conclusion of the last great military campaign of Hadrian's reign, the Bar Kochba revolt in Judaea (132-135 AD). As an internal revolt, not a operation against foreign foes, the war did not warrant a coinage commemorating its end, but this coin would indirectly mark its conclusion, praising the legions for their steadfastness while stressing the re-ordering of the armies for peacetime and the standing down from a war footing, and the arrangements made for retiring veterans, i.e. the distribution of land and other benefits.