Denarius - Hadrian P M TR P COS DES II CONCORD, Concordia and Spes

Struck in 117 AD, the year Hadrian acceded following Trajan's death in Cilicia, this denarius belongs to the earliest phase of his reign — before his second consulship, which he held in absentia while still traveling from the eastern frontier. The COS DES II legend dates it tightly to that transitional window, when Hadrian's political position remained delicate and the Senate's acceptance of his accession was far from automatic.

Trajan had never formally named a successor. Hadrian's adoption was announced posthumously by Plotina, Trajan's widow, a circumstance that generated lasting suspicion in Rome.