Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 119 with Jesús Vico S.A. 6 Oct 2020
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Aelius caesar, 136 – 138
Aureus 137, AV 7.43 g. L AELIVS – CAESAR Bare-headed and draped bust l. Rev. TRIB POT – COS II Concordia seated l., holding patera and resting l. elbow on cornucopia; in exergue, CONCORD. C –. BMC Hadrian 999 note. RIC 443d = RIC Hadrian II, 2707 (this coin illustrated). Calicó 1446 (this coin).
An exceedingly rare variety with the drapery on the l. shoulder of a rare type. A portrait
of excellent style struck on a broad flan. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Privately purchased in 1987. This coin is sold with an export licence issued by the government of Spain.
Aelius Caesar, formerly known as L. Ceionius Commodus (Aelius Spartianus recounts his life in Historia Augusta) was of Etruscan origin. He became consul in AD 136, having been adopted by Hadrian in the summer of that year. His appointment came as a general surprise: according to the gossip, Hadrian chose him for his beauty, or perhaps because he considered him a suitable caretaker who would make way for his own favourite, M. Annius Verus, just fifteen years old at the time. In the opinion of Carcopino, Aelius had been adopted because he was Hadrian's illegitimate child. A wan figure with a delicate constitution, he suffered a heavy fall while making an address of thanks for Hadrian and died of a haemorrhage. The Historia Augusta (Vita Ael 7) tells us that "Hadrian had gigantic statues raised to Aelius Verus in all regions of the empire, temples too in some cities, and desired that Aelius' son Verus, who had remained within the imperial family after his father's death, be adopted as his grandson, by Antoninus Pius together with Marcus".
Aureus 137, AV 7.43 g. L AELIVS – CAESAR Bare-headed and draped bust l. Rev. TRIB POT – COS II Concordia seated l., holding patera and resting l. elbow on cornucopia; in exergue, CONCORD. C –. BMC Hadrian 999 note. RIC 443d = RIC Hadrian II, 2707 (this coin illustrated). Calicó 1446 (this coin).
An exceedingly rare variety with the drapery on the l. shoulder of a rare type. A portrait
of excellent style struck on a broad flan. Virtually as struck and almost Fdc
Privately purchased in 1987. This coin is sold with an export licence issued by the government of Spain.
Aelius Caesar, formerly known as L. Ceionius Commodus (Aelius Spartianus recounts his life in Historia Augusta) was of Etruscan origin. He became consul in AD 136, having been adopted by Hadrian in the summer of that year. His appointment came as a general surprise: according to the gossip, Hadrian chose him for his beauty, or perhaps because he considered him a suitable caretaker who would make way for his own favourite, M. Annius Verus, just fifteen years old at the time. In the opinion of Carcopino, Aelius had been adopted because he was Hadrian's illegitimate child. A wan figure with a delicate constitution, he suffered a heavy fall while making an address of thanks for Hadrian and died of a haemorrhage. The Historia Augusta (Vita Ael 7) tells us that "Hadrian had gigantic statues raised to Aelius Verus in all regions of the empire, temples too in some cities, and desired that Aelius' son Verus, who had remained within the imperial family after his father's death, be adopted as his grandson, by Antoninus Pius together with Marcus".