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Quinarius Aureus - Hadrian COS III, Salus
| Issuer | Roman Imperial Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 125-127 |
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| Composition | Gold |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The goddess Salus seated left on a throne, her body semi-draped, extending her right hand to feed a serpent coiled before her, while her left hand rests upon the throne or holds a sceptre. The figure is rendered in the graceful, classicizing style favored during the Hadrianic renaissance. The surrounding Latin legend reads P M TR P COS III, referencing Hadrian's titles as Pontifex Maximus, holder of tribunician power, and Consul for the third time. The reverse type alludes to the health and well-being of the emperor and the Roman state, a recurrent theme in Hadrianic imperial propaganda. The field is plain, with no exergue line. |
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| Additional information |
The quinarius aureus — struck at half the weight of a standard aureus — saw only intermittent production under the emperors; Hadrian's issues represent one of the more sustained revivals of the denomination. These were not change-making coins. Their function remains debated, but donative distribution and presentation gifting are the leading explanations for why they were produced at all during a reign otherwise characterized by fiscal conservatism.
RIC II.3 796 dates to Hadrian's third consulship, held continuously from 119 AD onward — a tenure that itself signaled a deliberate alignment with traditional Republican office-holding customs.