Sabina As “vesta & S C” — Certificate Of Authenticity

An as of Sabina, Hadrian’s wife, struck around AD 134, whose appeal to the collector lies in the notably “Roman” and remarkably legible pairing of a carefully rendered Augusta portrait—diadem, drapery, and elaborately worked hair—with a reverse showing Vesta seated, holding the palladium and a scepter, with the senatorial S C in the exergue; the typological ensemble is firmly established and verifiable in the major repertories under Cohen 66 / BMC Hadrian 1902 / RIC Hadrian 1024, and is frequently repeated in specialized sale archives for the same legend–type pairing.

Careful observation under ×10 magnification and raking light: the specimen appears on a broad flan, with a present rim and a bronze surface of warm patina, showing—without intervention—an old micro-texture and darker spotting compatible with prolonged preservation; the obverse retains a secure reading of the bust and a substantial portion of the titulature, while the reverse remains particularly expressive through Vesta’s complete silhouette, the crispness of the palladium held in hand, the verticality of the scepter, and the clear presence of S C, an institutional marker decisive for this denomination.

Authority / status: Sabina Augusta, under the reign of Hadrian.

Denomination / metal: As (Æ), imperial bronze.

Date: approx. AD 134 (typological attribution commonly given for this type).

Weight: 10.31 g (as stated).

Obverse (type and legend): SABINA AVGVSTA – HADRIANI AVG P P, diademed and draped bust right, hair arranged in the court style, the layout corresponding to the published type.

Reverse (type and legend): Vesta seated left, holding palladium and scepter, with S C in the exergue, a composition described exactly for this issue in the standard reference documentation.

References: C 66; BMC Hadrian 1902; RIC Hadrian 1024 (and, in certain modern renumberings and sale notices, the type is also encountered under an alternative RIC numbering), published and consultable concordances.

This issue belongs to the refined political culture of Hadrian’s reign, in which the imagery of the Augustae participates in a rhetoric of stability and imperial dignity; the choice of Vesta, guardian of the public hearth and civic continuity, places the coin under the sign of an ordered, durable Rome “held” by its rites, while S C recalls—through the very language of bronze—the senatorial anchoring and institutional dimension of these issues intended for everyday circulation.

For a collection, this as offers an immediately meaningful presence, uniting one of the most recognizable female portraits of the Antonine period with a reverse of high symbolic density—Vesta and the palladium, that is, protection, permanence, the very idea of a “guarded city”—making it a particularly harmonious choice for a cabinet devoted to empresses, civic personifications and deities, or the numismatic representation of Roman institutions in the 2nd century.

The provenance is European, from an established numismatic dealer, and the acquisition was made through a specialized international transaction, conducted within a recognized numismatic network and validated to the highest standards of the art and heritage market; the attribution is fixed by comparison with the published Cohen / BMC / RIC references and with documented sale comparanda bearing the same combination of legends, types, and S C in the exergue.
Each specimen is examined, described, and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity consistent with the standards of the art and heritage market, this notice being deliberately anchored to what is typologically and numismatically verifiable in light of consultable corpora.