This piece belongs to the "province" series struck under Hadrian, a programmatic coinage commemorating his extensive imperial tours — the most ambitious program of provincial visitation undertaken by any Roman emperor. Hadrian traveled to Dacia sometime around 124 AD, less than two decades after Trajan's brutal conquest of the region had reshaped Rome's northeastern frontier and flooded the treasury with Dacian gold. The coins honoring these visits were struck at Rome, not in the provinces themselves.
The denomination question — dupondius or as — remains unresolved for much of this series, as surface corrosion on surviving bronze frequently obscures the orichalcum alloy distinctions that would otherwise settle the attribution.
This piece belongs to the "province" series struck under Hadrian, a programmatic coinage commemorating his extensive imperial tours — the most ambitious program of provincial visitation undertaken by any Roman emperor. Hadrian traveled to Dacia sometime around 124 AD, less than two decades after Trajan's brutal conquest of the region had reshaped Rome's northeastern frontier and flooded the treasury with Dacian gold. The coins honoring these visits were struck at Rome, not in the provinces themselves.
The denomination question — dupondius or as — remains unresolved for much of this series, as surface corrosion on surviving bronze frequently obscures the orichalcum alloy distinctions that would otherwise settle the attribution.