Watch List notes:

Hadrian, 117-138. Aureus (Gold, 19 mm, 7.26 g, 6 h), Rome, 117. IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIANO AVG DIVI TRA PARTH F Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Hadrian to right. Rev. DIVI NER NEP P M TR P COS / FORT RED Fortuna, veiled, seated left, holding rudder with right hand and cornucopiae with left. BMC 34. Cohen 741 var. (rudder on globe). RIC 15 var. (rudder on globe). An attractive example with an excellent early portrait. Minor traces of mounting, otherwise, good very fine.


The legitimacy of Hadrian's succession to the throne was based upon an alleged adoption by Trajan on his deathbed in Selinus, Cilicia, in August 117. While two of the three witnesses to the adoption, Plotina and the praetorian prefect Attianus, were strongly supportive of Hadrian, the third attendant - a personal servant of Trajan - suspiciously died a few days later. The progress of these events created strong doubts among both contemporaries and modern scholars as to the legitimacy of Hadrian's claim to the throne. His first emissions show that he was well aware of the skepticism: he is usually called the son of the divine Trajan, a title that on our coin even gets expanded to 'son of the divine Trajan and grandson of the divine Nerva'. It is obvious that Hadrian felt the need to emphasize the legitimacy of his rule by boasting his alleged ancestry from his two predecessors.