Hadrian Denarius “pax” — Certificate Of Authenticity

A silver denarius of Hadrian, attributed to the mint of Rome and linked to one of the very early issues of his reign, when the new power chose to speak through a vocabulary of pacification and civic prosperity; the typological concordance is particularly clear here, since the pairing of the obverse IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG with the reverse P M TR P COS II, featuring Pax standing holding a branch and a cornucopia and the explicit PAX in the exergue, corresponds to the type classified as RIC 44, consistently repeated in the major repertories and specialized sale archives.

Careful observation under ×10 magnification and raking light: the specimen shows a strike of direct readability, with a coherent Roman-style laureate and cuirassed portrait, a peripheral titulature substantially legible despite a slight crowding of the text toward the rim in certain areas, and a reverse whose decisive attributes—branch, cornucopia, and the stance of Pax—remain sufficiently structured to convey, without any typological ambiguity, the expected monetary message; all set on a silver surface with nuanced grey toning, marked by fine traces of circulation that do not impair iconographic comprehension.

Authority / period: Hadrian (AD 117–138).

Mint: Rome.

Denomination / metal: Denarius, silver (AR).

Diameter / weight: 18 mm; 3.49 g (as stated).

Obverse (type and legend): IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right, configuration described for this type.

Reverse (type and legend): P M TR P COS II, Pax standing left holding branch and cornucopia, PAX in the exergue, ensemble consistent with the RIC 44 description.

Reference: RIC⊃2; 44 (with cataloguing and market concordances).

The titulature COS II places the issue within the early sequence of Hadrian’s principate, a moment when the imperial image—heir to Trajan through the onomastic formula—was already ordered around a program of stability, and when Pax, through the branch and the cornucopia, expressed less a moral abstraction than a political promise: restored concord and administered prosperity, a message whose repetition on Rome’s silver coinage formed a language immediately intelligible to contemporaries.

For the collector, this denarius offers a very secure cabinet value, because it unites an “early” portrait of Hadrian—particularly sought after for its frank style and a titulature still close to transitional formulas—with one of the central allegories of the Roman repertory, Pax, whose reading remains universal; its presence, reinforced by the explicit PAX in the exergue, gives the coin a narrative clarity that makes it immediately compelling within an Antonine collection or a thematic ensemble devoted to public virtues.

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 anchored in published concordances, foremost among them RIC 44, whose description precisely matches the combination of legends and attributes observed on the specimen.
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 limited to elements verifiable by observation and consultable references, so that the collector’s confidence rests on a stable documentary basis.