(95) Hadrian - AV aureus, A.D. 128-137, 7.17 g. (inv. 91.168).
Obverse: Draped and diademed bust of Sabina r.; SABINA AVGVSTA HADRIANI
AVG(VSTI) P(ATER) P(ATRIAE): Sabina Augusta, wife of Hadrian Augustus, father
of the country.
Reverse: Concordia seated l., extending patera in r. hand and leaning
l. elbow on figure of Spes; CONCORDIA AVG(VSTA): Concordia Augusta.
Provenance: Abner Kreisberg, 1961.
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage
II: Vespasian to Hadrian (London 1926) 398.
In A.D. 101 Hadrian married Vibia Sabina, a great-niece of Trajan, probably
an indication that he was intended as Trajan's heir. Late sources report
that her marriage to Hadrian was very unhappy, but little is certainly known
of her life. She was made Augusta in A.D. 128 and coins were struck with
her portrait and title. Sabina died in A.D. 136 or 137 and was deified by
Hadrian. Posthumous coins were also issued in her honor.
Sabina differs from most women of the Flavian and Trajanic period in her
very simple hair, which is merely pulled back and held in a loose queue.
She wears the diadem that accompanies the title Augusta.
The reverse depicts the personification of harmony and concord, Concordia,
who was worshipped as a goddess and who was a very popular coin type. She
has many attributes; here she is depicted with the patera or offering
bowl and with a small statue of Spes, the personification of hope.
K.S.
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