★ A bear on the flight from Hadrian ★

MYSIA. Hadrianotherae. Hadrian, 117-138. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 29 mm, 14.66 g, 6 h), Orphios Menophantos, strategos. AY KAI TPAIANOC AΔPIANOC AYΓO Laureate head of Hadrian to right. Rev. ЄΠΙ ϹΤΡΑ ΟΡΦ ΜΗΝΟΦΑΝΤΟΥ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΘΗΡΙΤΩΝ Hadrian on horseback galloping to right, brandishing javelin at bear advancing right, wounded by a spear. RPC III 1626. SNG Copenhagen 177. Von Fritze 564. Very rare. Minor smoothing and slightly rough, otherwise, very fine.

From the collection of a historian ('Aus der Sammlung eines Altertumswissenschaftlers'), Künker 347, 22 March 2021, 437, previously privately acquired from Günther Schlüter (chairman of the German Numismatic Society in 1975-1977) in December 1991 and ex Münzen & Medaillen AG FPL 250, December 1964/January 1965, 98.

Hadrian was a great lover of the hunt, to the extent that he founded the city of Hadrianotherai (the name literally means: 'Hadrian's hunts') on the spot of a successful hunt in Mysia, which we can see depicted on the reverse of this coin. One minor detail that is often overlooked on this issue is that there are actually two varieties of the hunting scene on the reverse: the first shows the bear running away in full flight (RPC III 1624.2), whereas on RPC III 1624.1 and on our coin, the beast, already wounded by a spear, is limping to right in a desperate last attempt to escape.