Denarius - Hadrian PIETATI AVG COS III P P, Pietas

Hadrian's extended tour of the eastern provinces in 128–130 AD generated an enormous outpouring of propaganda coinage, much of it tied to specific cities, deities, and virtues he wished to associate with his reign. The PIETATI AVG group belongs to this broader program of ideological self-presentation, issued as Hadrian repositioned himself not as a military emperor but as a pious, civilizing administrator.

RIC II.3 1114 falls within the revised Carradice-Buttrey reorganization of Hadrianic coinage, which substantially renumbered earlier RIC II attributions. Collectors working from older references should cross-check carefully.