Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Denarius - Hadrian NILVS, Nilus
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint (Rome) |
|---|---|
| Year | 130-133 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Denarius, Reform of Augustus (27 BC – AD 215) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The river god Nilus reclines to the left, his semi-draped figure supported against a hippopotamus that occupies the lower field, a symbolic reference to the fauna of the Nile. Nilus holds a reed or lotus sceptre upright in his raised right hand, while his left arm rests upon what appears to be a cornucopia or urn, emblematic of the river's life-giving flood. A crocodile is depicted along the lower exergual area, reinforcing the Egyptian iconographic program associated with Hadrian's celebrated visit to Egypt circa AD 130. The legend NILVS arcs across the upper field in bold Roman capitals within a beaded border, identifying the personification with characteristic clarity. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Rome Mint |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
This issue belongs to Hadrian's celebrated "travel series," struck to commemorate his extensive provincial tours between roughly 128 and 134 AD. The Nilus type specifically reflects his visit to Egypt, almost certainly tied to the drowning of his beloved Antinous in the Nile in October 130 — an event that triggered an empire-wide grief response and the immediate deification of the young Bithynian. Whether the coin predates or postdates that episode within the 130–133 window remains debated among specialists.
The travel series as a whole is remarkably diverse in die work, with Rome's engravers producing personifications of provinces they had never seen.