As - Hadrian COS III S C

Hadrian's third consulship, held from 119 AD, was largely ceremonial by the time these asses were struck — he declined a fourth, unusual restraint for an emperor who otherwise cultivated an image of engaged, travelling governance. The COS III designation on bronzes of this window places them squarely within his most active years of provincial travel, a circuit that took him through Britannia, Germania, and the eastern provinces in close succession.

RIC II.3 #821 is one of several closely related types from this emission, distinguished within OCRE by die-axis and surface treatment details that repay careful examination against the published corpus.