Here is one of my favorite
Forvm purchases, a highly interesting and very
rare dupondius of
Hadrian that is destined for the
ANS collection!
Orichalcum dupondius, S -,
RIC 910, C 238, VF, 11.644g, 26.4mm, 0o,
Rome mint, 134 - 138 A.D.;
obverse HADRIANVS AVG
COS III P P, laureate and draped
bust right, from behind;
reverse COH PRAETOR S C,
Hadrian, standing right on platform accompanied by the Praetorian Prefect, addressing officer (centurion?) [actually a
lictor holding
fasces] who stands right and four soldiers; the officer and the first two soldiers are holding oblong shields, the first soldier is holding a
vexillum, the following two standards; the final soldier unclear; very
rare.
COH PRAETOR is one of the rarer
types on Hadrian's Army
sestertii,
part of
his Travel series commemorating
his visits to army camps around the empire, showing him addressing the soldiers from a platform or on horseback. MIDDLE BRONZES with Army
types, however, are extremely
rare.
Strack lists four specimens of
COH PRAETOR,
Rome, Naples and 2 in
Paris; otherwise a unique EXERC
HISPAN in
Paris ex Queen Christina and a unique
EXERCITVS MAVRITANICVS in Bologna.
When I saw this coin in the
Forvm catalogue, I assumed it was a
sestertius and immediately ordered it without even bothering to read the description. I thought I was seeing double when a mere
dupondius emerged from the envelope: surely that dwarf can't be a
sestertius! Moreover, I didn't really need the
dupondius, since I
had had one from the same
rev. die in my first
collection, ex
Niggeler and Ryan
collections, which is now in
Oxford. However no problem, a friend of mine who collects
rare Roman coins that he will donate or bequeath to the
ANS was happy to take the coin over from me.