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As - Hadrian PONT MAX TR POT COS IIIS C, Aequitas and Moneta
| Issuer | Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD) |
|---|---|
| Year | 120-121 |
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| Value | As = 1⁄16 Denarius |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed and draped bust of Hadrian facing right, with curly hair and short beard rendered in fine detail characteristic of the early Hadrianic portraiture style. The emperor's effigy displays a paludamentum (military cloak) fastened at the right shoulder, with its folds visible at the base of the truncation. The encircling legend IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG runs along the outer rim, identifying the emperor by his full imperial titulature. The portrait is modeled in high relief with naturalistic physiognomic detail, consistent with the refined Greco-Roman artistic sensibility Hadrian personally championed. The field shows the characteristic green patina of aged orichalcum-bronze coinage. |
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| Reverse description | A standing female figure, identified as Aequitas (or Moneta), occupies the center of the reverse field, depicted in full length facing left and clad in a long stola and palla. She holds a set of scales (libra) in her extended left hand and a cornucopia in her right hand, the traditional attributes associating her with fair measure and monetary abundance. The legend PONT MAX TR POT COS III arcs around the upper field, recording Hadrian's religious and civil offices, while the senatorial authority mark S C (Senatus Consultum) appears in the lower field flanking the figure on either side. The composition is rendered in the schematic but dignified style typical of early second-century Roman bronze coinage. The reverse die is well-centered, with the figure in bold relief against a flat field. |
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| Additional information |
Hadrian's third consulship began in 119 AD and ran only through 120, making coins dated COS III a tight chronological bracket. The pairing of Aequitas and Moneta on a single issue reflects an explicit policy message: the currency reforms Hadrian pursued early in his reign were meant to signal fiscal probity after the expensive Dacian wars of his predecessor had strained the treasury. Whether the reverses appeared together as a deliberate programmatic statement or simply shared a production run is still debated among specialists working the RIC II.3 revision.