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Dupondius or As - Hadrian AFRICA S C, Africa
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 130-133 |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed and bearded bust of Emperor Hadrian facing right, with finely rendered wavy hair and a short, full beard characteristic of his mature portraiture. The effigy is rendered in high relief with strong classical modeling, the neck truncation visible at the base. The encircling Latin legend reads HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, distributed around the bust within a beaded border. The portrait reflects the philhellenic aesthetic cultivated during Hadrian's reign, distinguishing him from earlier clean-shaven emperors. |
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| Obverse lettering | HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P (Translation: Hadrian, emperor, consul for the third time, father of the nation.) |
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| Additional information |
Struck as part of Hadrian's ambitious "Provinces" series, this issue belongs to a group of bronzes celebrating the territories of the Roman Empire — a propagandistic program almost certainly connected to Hadrian's extensive provincial tours, which included North Africa around 128 AD. No emperor before him had traveled so deliberately or so far, and the coinage reflects an ideology of personal engagement with the provinces rather than mere conquest of them.
The RIC II.3 revision by Carradice and Butcher substantially reclassified bronzes of this series; earlier catalogs frequently conflated dupondii and asses where flan weight and orichalcum content were ambiguous.