Hadrian (AD 117-138). AV aureus (19mm, 7.13 gm, 1h). NGC Choice VF 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, edge marks. Rome, ca. AD 130. HADRIANVS•-AVG COS III P P, bare-headed, draped, and cuirassed bust of Hadrian right, seen from behind / Nilus reclining right, half draped, cornucopia cradled in left arm, reed in right hand, resting right arm on rocks over which water flows; hippopotamus walking right with mouth open toward two reeds in background, crocodile advancing left amid waves on river embankment below. Calicó 1162. RIC II.3 1439. A lovely example from the hugely popular travel series, the reverse die of extraordinary artistry. Hadrian's career of traveling the length and breadth of the Roman Empire culminated in an extended visit to Egypt in AD 130-131, accompanied by a vast entourage that included his wife Sabina and his young protégé and lover, the handsome Bithynian Antinoüs. During a barge trip up the Nile, Antinoüs fell overboard and drowned, plunging the emperor into extravagant grief. The incident is shrouded in mystery, with some gossips suggesting that the youth had sacrificed himself in some strange ritual to restore Hadrian's failing health. Whatever the manner of death, Hadrian ordained that Antinoüs be deified and worshipped as a god, not by the Roman Senate or people, but by the Greek denizens of the Empire who held a more sympathetic view of their emperor's "forbidden love." Hadrian finally returned from his travels in circa AD 132 and retired to his lavishly decorated villa at Tivoli, where Egypt and the Nile were given special prominence. His famous Travel Series of coins was struck during his final years, perhaps as a personal remembrance of his imperial wanderings. This remarkable aureus boasts an astonishing reverse depiction of the river god Nilus surrounded by the fauna of Egypt, rendered in the highest artistry of the age. Unusually, the reverse bears no legend, leaving the engraver's work to speak for itself. HID09801242017 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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