Quinarius - Hadrian P M TR P COS DES III, Victory

Struck in 117 AD, the year Hadrian came to power following Trajan's death in Selinus, this quinarius belongs to an extraordinarily brief window of his reign — the COS DES III designation places it before his third consulship took effect in 119, while TR P without a numeral indicates the earliest tribunician dating. Hadrian's accession was itself contested; the legions in the east proclaimed him emperor before the Senate had acted, and his relationship with Rome's governing class began in tension.

The quinarius denomination had seen only sporadic use for decades by this point. Its revival here may reflect deliberate archaism, a monetary gesture consistent with Hadrian's well-documented interest in Republican precedent.