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Crawford 322/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, C. Fabius C.f. Hadrianus, AR Denarius
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Rome. The Republic.
C. Fabius C. f. Hadrianus, 102 BCE.
AR Denarius (4.01g; 20mm).
Rome Mint.
Obverse: Veiled and turreted head of Cybele, facing right; EX· A· PV, behind.
Reverse: Victory in fast biga galloping right; A· and heron/stork below; C· FABI· C· F in exergue.
References: Crawford 322/1b; Sydenham 590; BMCRR 1592; Fabia 14.
Provenance: Ex Heritage Europe Auction 44 (26 Nov 2014), Lot 35.
While not certain, the moneyer may be Caius Fabius Hadrianus, who was praetor in 84 BCE, propraetor in 83–82 BCE and who was burned alive in his official residence during a Sullan uprising in 82. He struck two distinct series of this denarius: one, without an obverse inscription but with Greek letter control marks behind the obverse head; the other with Latin letter control marks on the reverse and the EX· A· PV obverse inscription. The obverse inscription is an abbreviation for EX A[RGENTO] PV[BLICO] meaning “from the public silver”. Only eight issues of Roman Republican coins reference the public silver, and it is not abundantly clear why this reference is needed since official silver coinage should always be struck from state silver. Fabius’s issue is the first of four issues struck circa 102-100 to bear a “public silver” inscription, which Crawford attributes as a sign of the populist times. Given that Hadrianus may have been killed in 82 by Sulla supporters because of his populist sympathies, Crawford’s attribution of the inscription as a populist message may be correct.
The bird on the reverse of the coin deserves some comment. According to Pliny, some members of the Fabia gens took the cognomen Buteones (a Buteo is a type of hawk or bird), after a bird settled on a Fabian’s ship and was taken as a good omen in advance of a victory. Both Grueber and Crawford interpret the heron/stork on the reverse of this coin as further evidence of Pliny’s story, and as likely proof that Pliny got the type of bird wrong in his retelling of the story. The bird is certainly important to the moneyer, as he also included the symbol on his AE Asses.
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![Crawford 322/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, C. Fabius C.f. Hadrianus, AR Denarius
Rome. The Republic.
C. Fabius C. f. Hadrianus, 102 BCE.
AR Denarius (4.01g; 20mm).
Rome Mint.
Obverse: Veiled and turreted head of Cybele, facing right; EX· A· PV, behind.
Reverse: Victory in fast biga galloping right; A· and heron/stork below; C· FABI· C· F in exergue.
References: Crawford 322/1b; Sydenham 590; BMCRR 1592; Fabia 14.
Provenance: Ex Heritage Europe Auction 44 (26 Nov 2014), Lot 35.
While not certain, the moneyer may be Caius Fabius Hadrianus, who was praetor in 84 BCE, propraetor in 83–82 BCE and who was burned alive in his official residence during a Sullan uprising in 82. He struck two distinct series of this denarius: one, without an obverse inscription but with Greek letter control marks behind the obverse head; the other with Latin letter control marks on the reverse and the EX· A· PV obverse inscription. The obverse inscription is an abbreviation for EX A[RGENTO] PV[BLICO] meaning “from the public silver”. Only eight issues of Roman Republican coins reference the public silver, and it is not abundantly clear why this reference is needed since official silver coinage should always be struck from state silver. Fabius’s issue is the first of four issues struck circa 102-100 to bear a “public silver” inscription, which Crawford attributes as a sign of the populist times. Given that Hadrianus may have been killed in 82 by Sulla supporters because of his populist sympathies, Crawford’s attribution of the inscription as a populist message may be correct.
The bird on the reverse of the coin deserves some comment. According to Pliny, some members of the Fabia gens took the cognomen Buteones (a Buteo is a type of hawk or bird), after a bird settled on a Fabian’s ship and was taken as a good omen in advance of a victory. Both Grueber and Crawford interpret the heron/stork on the reverse of this coin as further evidence of Pliny’s story, and as likely proof that Pliny got the type of bird wrong in his retelling of the story. The bird is certainly important to the moneyer, as he also included the symbol on his AE Asses.](albums/userpics/34967/normal_Hadrianuscombined.jpg "Click to view full size image
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Crawford 322/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, C. Fabius C.f. Hadrianus, AR Denarius
Rome. The Republic.
C. Fabius C. f. Hadrianus, 102 BCE.
AR Denarius (4.01g; 20mm).
Rome Mint.
Obverse: Veiled and turreted head of Cybele, facing right; EX· A· PV, behind.
Reverse: Victory in fast biga galloping right; A· and heron/stork below; C· FABI· C· F in exergue.
References: Crawford 322/1b; Sydenham 590; BMCRR 1592; Fabia 14.
Provenance: Ex Heritage Europe Auction 44 (26 Nov 2014), Lot 35.
While not certain, the moneyer may be Caius Fabius Hadrianus, who was praetor in 84 BCE, propraetor in 83–82 BCE and who was burned alive in his official residence during a Sullan uprising in 82. He struck two distinct series of this denarius: one, without an obverse inscription but with Greek letter control marks behind the obverse head; the other with Latin letter control marks on the reverse and the EX· A· PV obverse inscription. The obverse inscription is an abbreviation for EX A[RGENTO] PV[BLICO] meaning “from the public silver”. Only eight issues of Roman Republican coins reference the public silver, and it is not abundantly clear why this reference is needed since official silver coinage should always be struck from state silver. Fabius’s issue is the first of four issues struck circa 102-100 to bear a “public silver” inscription, which Crawford attributes as a sign of the populist times. Given that Hadrianus may have been killed in 82 by Sulla supporters because of his populist sympathies, Crawford’s attribution of the inscription as a populist message may be correct.
The bird on the reverse of the coin deserves some comment. According to Pliny, some members of the Fabia gens took the cognomen Buteones (a Buteo is a type of hawk or bird), after a bird settled on a Fabian’s ship and was taken as a good omen in advance of a victory. Both Grueber and Crawford interpret the heron/stork on the reverse of this coin as further evidence of Pliny’s story, and as likely proof that Pliny got the type of bird wrong in his retelling of the story. The bird is certainly important to the moneyer, as he also included the symbol on his AE Asses.")
