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Denarius - Hadrian ROMA FELIX COS III P P, Roma

Issuer Roman Empire (27 BC - 395 AD)
Year 129-130
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Weight 3.2 g
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Obverse description Laureate and draped bust of Emperor Hadrian facing right, the drapery visible over the left shoulder and viewed from the rear. The effigy displays the characteristic short beard and curled hair associated with Hadrian's portraiture. The circular legend surrounds the bust, with lettering distributed across the full periphery of the flan. The coin exhibits the slightly irregular, hand-struck flan typical of Roman Imperial hammered coinage of the early second century AD.
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Obverse lettering HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS
(Translation: Hadrianus Augustus. Hadrian, emperor (Augustus).)
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Additional information

The ROMA FELIX ("Happy Rome") type belongs to a concentrated burst of "province and personification" coinage issued around 128–130 AD, coinciding with Hadrian's return to Rome after his second major tour of the eastern provinces. The series was almost certainly programmatic — a deliberate public statement that Rome itself, not just its far-flung territories, shared in imperial beneficence. Hadrian had spent more time outside Italy than any predecessor, and the domestic audience needed reminding of his commitment to the capital.

RIC II.3 1124 is a third consulship piece, placing it firmly after 119 AD, but the ROMA FELIX reverse narrows the window considerably. The type does not appear before the 128–130 emission.

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