Hadrian augustus, 117 – 138
Aureus 121-123, AV 7.11 g. IMP CAESAR TRAIAN H – ADRIANVS AVG Laureate head r. Rev. P M T – R P – COS III Hercules standing facing in distyle temple, head r., resting on club and holding apples (?); flanked by two female figures (Hesperides?); below temple, river god (Baetis?) reclining r. Behind in l. field, prow. C 1084. BMC 99 and pl. 48, 19 (these dies). Strack 89. RIC 59 = RIC II, 575 (these dies). Faces of Power 152 (this coin). Calicó 1321. Very rare and in unusually fine condition for this very difficult issue, among the finest specimens in private hands. An interesting reverse composition and a pleasant portrait struck on a full flan. Extremely fine Ex Christies London sale 9th October 1984, Property of a Lady, 31. From the Adda collection. This coin is sold with an export licence issued by the government of Spain. The reverse type of this aureus depicts a temple enclosing an image of Hercules holding apples and flanked by two female figures, thought to represent the Hesperides. The Hesperides were the daughters of Nyx or the Titan Atlas who tended the great golden apple tree in the far West. Although only two are represented here, the number of the Hesperides is more commonly given as three, four, or seven, by ancient writers. According to mythological tradition, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to obtain the golden apples of the Hesperides as his Eleventh Labour, on the grounds that two of his previous labours had not counted (the Hydra and the Augean stables) because he had human and natural assistance. In order to obtain the apples, Hercules took the place of Atlas holding up the heavens while Atlas picked them. Atlas enjoyed being free of his usual burden and offered to deliver the apples himself, but Hercules managed to trick him into taking back his usual position holding up the sky and carried the apples back to Eurystheus. The Garden of the Hesperides was believed by the Greeks and Romans to have been located in the Iberian Peninsula, the most western Mediterranean land known to them. The cult of Heracles flourished there, also in part due to Punic influence, and his sanctuaries were commonplace. The particular temple depicted on this coin was located in Gades, in the province of Hispania Baetica, as indicated by a related issue inscribed HERC GADIT (Hercules Gaditis or the “Hercules of Gades”). This sanctuary may have been known to Hadrian personally in his youth, before he was called to Rome by his uncle Trajan at the age of 14. His mother, Domitia Paulina, had been from Gades. Thus the type not only alluded to Hadrians Spanish ancestry, but perhaps also to filial piety towards his mother, who had died in his youth.