Hadrian AE Sestertius (Lictor with torch, RIC II.3 262)

HADRIAN, AD 117-138
AE Sestertius (32.90mm, 24.77g, 6h)
Struck AD 119-120. Rome mint
Obverse: IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG P M TR P COS III, laureate bust of Hadrian right, with bare chest and slight drapery on far shoulder
Reverse: RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOLITA, Lictor standing left, setting fire to heap of bonds with torch held in right hand and holding fasces with axe in left; S C across fields
References: RIC II.3 262; RCV 3626; ERIC II 1152

Dark green patina with smoothly worn surfaces. A highly unusual and fascinating historical reverse type, celebrating the cancellation of public debt, which happened under Hadrian a few years into his reign as a gesture of conciliation and goodwill after four senators had been unlawfully executed for conspiracy. The reverse legend translates as “Old debts to the amount of nine hundred million sestertii cancelled” – a colossal sum, roughly equivalent to billions of dollars today – and is coupled with the image of a lictor setting fire to the pile of debt records: an event which actually took place in an elaborate ceremony within Trajan’s Forum.

For more information about the type and history, see my Numisforum writeup here.

Coleção : Roman Imperial - the Nerva-Antonine Emperors